While we mostly celebrate non-commercial radio here at Radio Survivor, that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate commercial radio when done well. The problem is that in the 20 years since the 1996 Telecom Act grossly deregulated radio ownership, the quality of most commercial radio dropped precipitously, leaving many stations with very little local programming, with […]
Like the last few years, the connected dashboard is the most important news from the Consumer Electronics Show for radio. This initiative reached a new level of maturity this year. But at the same time, the always looming specter of wireless data costs and threats to internet freedom pose road hazards for the development of […]
Shortly after posting my piece about BlueToothing my Droid Razr to my Panasonic car stereo, I got this fascinating response from San Diego based indie consultant Bob Hudson: “I put Internet radio in my car back in 2005,” Hudson wrote, “connecting a Palm Treo through the car’s audio system using one those audio adapters that […]
The Decision Last December I made a New Years resolution: I would get Internet radio in my Honda Civic by the summer. So in the middle of July I went over to New Sound car stereos in San Francisco and talked to the proprietor Ed Sosa about what I needed: a console with AM/FM plus […]
Road trip radio listening is a great way to get a snapshot of what radio is like around the country. I just completed a move to Portland, Oregon from Chicago. We had movers take the majority of our possessions, but my wife and I, along with two aging tabby cats, packed into a rented SUV […]
Weather reports and alerts are a mainstay of most live radio broadcasts, especially during drivetime, and there are plenty of apps that will deliver forecasts to your smartphone. However, updated local weather is more difficult to obtain on streaming services if you’re not just listening to a local station’s stream. Today Slacker Radio releases a […]
US Pirg has released a new report on commuting patterns that has to be worrying some radio people: we are driving less. “The Driving Boom is over,” proclaims US Pirg Senior Analyst Phineas Baxandall. “The constant increases we saw in driving up until 2005 show no sign of returning. As more and more Millennials become […]
Three years ago at CES car stereos started talking to smartphones to control apps like Pandora. This year radio apps are moving en masse from the smartphone into the dashboard. Smartphones still provide the critical mobile data link, although one auto manufacturer announced a deal to integrate that access directly in the dash. Two major […]
It’s called the Parrot Asteroid—an Android powered car stereo that will pipe in your music “from any source,” including FM, web radio, iPhones, SD cards, the works. The gadget has been a hit at the CES 2011 conference (today is the last day), getting nice reviews from Consumer Reports and Droid Nerds. Here’s a YouTube […]
The annual Consumer Electronics Show kicks off this Thursday in Las Vegas. While all the biggest buzz around the show is in anticipation of new tablet competitors for Apple’s iPad, we can still expect to hear announcements of new radio gadgets across the spectrum, from analog broadcast and HD Radio to satellite and internet radio. […]
