To Stream or Not to Stream

In a world dominated by artificial intelligence and surveillance marketing, broadcast radio represents a refuge.? Radio in the car, in particular, is a refuge in a mobile personal space unlike any other.

We often use our cars to escape and radio has always been a part of that experience.? Radio is connected to us – locally – while remaining at a polite distance, disconnected.? Digital radio is changing this.

At WorldDAB this week in Prague, the industry will come together to ponder the future of digital radio as car makers experiment with removing radio from the car or delivering its content via an IP feed.? While the U.S. is weighing a legislative analog AM radio mandate, at least two European auto makers have introduced inexpensive electric vehicles without built-in AM/FM receivers.

The car is a unique content consumption space.? Consumers are saturated with search-driven advertising across mobile devices, notebook computers, digital televisions, and smart speakers.? The car remains the last platform where advertising is primarily driven by location.

At least two organizations attended Autotech in Detroit last week pitching a multi-screen mantra: Radioplayer and 3 Screen Solutions (3SS, creator of the 3Ready app available on some automotive platforms).? These two operators – and others – are promoting the concept of multi-screen marketing, measurement, and monetization.

Clever and attractive those these solutions may be, they miss the point of automotive engagement even as they seek to penetrate the automotive industry.? The multi-screen message is tuned to advertisers not car makers which raises serious questions regarding relevance.

The content from local radio broadcasts comes with location relevance built in.? If you are listening, you are nearby.

This kind of relationship with the listener preserves anonymity and, of course, privacy.? In a world where there is precious little remaining privacy, the car stands out as the last vestige of a once-completely-disconnected world.? In this context video has its place but radio has priority.

By definition, a multi-screen approach tying together televisions, mobile devices, smart speakers, AND cars wedded to artificial intelligence and data harvesting presents the prospect of an almost unbearable intrusion.? My content consumption in my car bears no relationship to my mobile device, living room, bedroom, or office behaviors.?

I am already unnerved by my Google TV sharing my Youtube feed with my entire family.? I’d like to think I can draw a line at my driver’s side door!

Digital is letting the Internet into the radio listening experience in the car – in particular, with the help of Xperi’s DTS AutoStage.? The Xperi platform links the digital broadcast to an IP source of metadata – enabling search, interactive advertising, measurement, and recommendtions.? DTS AutoStage also supports video.

This reality is evolving as digital broadcast technology sweeps the globe – with DAB/DAB+ in Europe and HD Radio in the U.S.? Digital radio signals are enabling interactive experiences and data collection for the purposes of more targeted advertising, audience measurement, content management, and monetization.

By basing engagement on the broadcast signal, location relevance remains at the core of the value proposition.? But privacy is preserved even as relevant information regarding news, weather, and traffic are a voice-request away.

There are financial concerns as well.? Streamers of video and audio are losing money and that business model doesn’t work any better in a car.

Car connectivity is changing.? Car makers are moving toward owning their own connectivity and shifting away from projected smartphone solutions.

App stores from Harman and Faurecia are percolating through the eco-system and projected, connected navigation, generative AI, streaming audio and video are steadily proliferating.? (WebOS anyone?) It is in this context that car makers are seriously considering a streaming-only approach to in-vehicle radio reception.?

Companies like TuneIn, Radioplayer, Radioline, and platforms such as Google’s Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and even SiriusXM are prioritizing cellular-based streaming access or enabling something called “hybrid” radio – where a streaming feed will replace the terrestrial signal if it is lost.

The streaming of content to cars may be attractive but is also expensive.? No one is making money streaming audio.? Multiple car makers are contemplating streaming over the embedded wireless device instead of projecting an app-based source from a smartphone.? Car makers may be making millions selling Wi-Fi access on embedded devices.? There is no pot of gold at the end of the streaming rainbow.

Given the unreliability of cellular connectivity, a stream-centric approach to content delivery seems unwise.? A hybrid broadcast-cellular-based system appears to be unnecessarily complex given the infrequency of its relevance.

Passive observers may be underestimating the reach and impact already achieved by DTS AutoStage.? According to Xperi, 7.5M cars are already on the road with DTS AutoStage including vehicles from Mercedes, Maybach, Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Lincoln, Ford Motor Company, Nissan, Infiniti, BMW, and Mini.? Six additional brands are in development and scheduled for launch in the next 6-8 months, the company says.

DTS AutoStage supports more than 49K radio stations across more than 145 countries.? The business model consists of free access for broadcasters with a modest charge per vehicle for global lifetime access.

DTS AutoStage is GDPR compliant while enabling a wide range of unprecedented listening analytics regarding station, program, tracks, and location. ?For the first time, with DTS AutoStage, auto makers are able to understand the (anonymized) listening behaviors of their customers.

The streamers are boasting of offering the same analytics – including across non-automotive listening environments – but DTS AutoStage is delivering in a manner that preserves the original automotive ethos of privacy, anonymity, and escape.? Radio in the car has always been about escape and a unique customer engagement in a refuge from technological intrusion the streamers simply can’t match.

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