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AM Radio No Longer Necessary, Auto Industry Says in Response to Sen. Markey

“The public is moving away from radio and broadcast/cable television as the primary channels for news and information.”

Maddy Troy

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wikipedia.com

In December, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to all the big automakers, urging them to keep AM radio in electric vehicles. The auto industry has now responded and does not offer any guarantees.

Markey wrote in December to all the major automakers, including, Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, BMW, and Kia. 

The Senator asked for an update and account of where AM radio receivers stand in the eyes of automakers and asked them to inform him of any plans to discontinue access to AM in new cars.

Markey’s letter to automakers emphasized the safety applications of AM radio during extreme situations. The letter focused on the important emergency alerting capacities of AM radio.

“A phase-out of broadcast AM in new vehicles could pose a significant communication problem during emergencies,” the Senator wrote. “Given AM radio’s importance for emergency communications and continued consumer demand, I urge your company to maintain the feature in its new vehicles,” he wrote.

The auto industry response comes from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and appears to be a clear non-endorsement of AM radio. The letter makes no indication of the automaker’s desire to keep AM radio an element of the modern dashboard.

The response from the auto industry focuses on utilizing “emerging technologies” for emergency alerting, including wireless emergency alerts through mobile phones. 

“The public is moving away from radio and broadcast/cable television as the primary channels for news and information,” the organization said as it quoted the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.

The concern from Markey and others comes in when the technology we are all so used to in 2023, fails or experiences a cyber attack. Technology that allows for mass communication, such as AM radio can step in under those circumstances.

NAB Senior Vice President of Communications Alex Siciliano told Radio World the statement from Alliance for Automotive Innovation was a disappointing one.

“We appreciate that the industry is being responsive to Sen. Markey as many policymakers have voiced concerns about removing AM radio from newly manufactured vehicles,” said Siciliano. “We have engaged in an ongoing and productive dialogue with the alliance since this letter was written in December, and we’ll continue to facilitate this dialogue between key stakeholders. As the backbone of the nation’s Emergency Alert System (EAS), AM radio plays a critical role in informing Americans and keeping them safe when disaster strikes.

“We know automakers do not want to alienate the nearly 48 million American who listen to AM radio each week, and we’ll continue fighting to keep this important service in cars,” he said.

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Media Business

MIW Organization Welcomes Two New Board Members

“They are each accomplished and inspiring professionals who are generously giving back to the betterment of women in the industry, and the industry as a whole.”

Maddy Troy

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The Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) organization has expanded its Board of Directors with the addition of Lori Flowers, who manages integrated marketing and projects for Radio One, and Jenna Miller, an integrated sales manager for Cox Media Group.

Flowers is responsible for creating marketing opportunities at Radio One and Reach Media, the network division. She has previously worked in various cities, including Phoenix, West Palm Beach, Miami, and Washington, DC. She most recently served as Marketing Director at Radio One Atlanta.

Flowers was selected for MIW’s 2008 Mildred Carter Mentorship Program and has completed coursework in leadership development, executive leadership development, and broadcast leadership training offered by the National Association of Broadcasters.

Miller oversees sales efforts for two of Cox Media Group Tampa’s music stations and manages CMG Health Marketing and CMG Research. She started her radio career in Detroit in 1998 and has held senior account executive positions for iHeartMedia and Audacy in New York.

Miller completed Radio Advertising Bureau’s Rising Through The Ranks, a leadership program sponsored by RAB, BMI, and MIW, and was one of three national mentorship awardees for MIW’s 2021 Mildred Carter Mentorship Program. She volunteered to join the MIW Mentoring Committee in 2022, representing the Mildred Carter Mentees and continues to serve in that role.

“Both Lori and Jenna share a history with MIW, starting as mentees and now joining us as Board members,” MIW Board President Ruth Presslaff said in a release. “They are each accomplished and inspiring professionals who are generously giving back to the betterment of women in the industry, and the industry as a whole.  We welcome them wholeheartedly and are thankful for their participation.”

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Media Business

Audacy Promotes Jenna Weiss-Berman to Executive Vice President of Podcasts

“We have a real opportunity to build a cohesive podcast brand that is greater than the sum of its parts, and I look forward to all that’s ahead.”

Barrett News Media

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Audacy has announced a promotion for Jenna Weiss-Berman to Executive Vice President of Podcasts for the company.

With the new role and title, Weiss-Berman will report to Auadacy’s Chief Digital Officer and President of Podcast and Streaming J.D. Crowley.

Weiss-Berman will oversee Audacy’s podcast network and studios, which include Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios. She’ll also work with the company’s sports and news programming leaders to develop and grow original podcasts for the company’s 2400Sports studios and the 28 local newsrooms across the nation.

“I’m excited to help bring together the world-class podcast businesses that already exist under the Audacy umbrella,” said Weiss-Berman. “We have a real opportunity to build a cohesive podcast brand that is greater than the sum of its parts, and I look forward to all that’s ahead.”

Previously, Weiss-Berman was the head of audio for BuzzFeed before joining Pineapple Street Studios, which Audacy acquired in 2019.

“As we commit to accelerating our digital growth and enhancing performance, we’re thrilled to expand Jenna’s role to further unify and streamline our content and business efforts across our leading podcast portfolio, enabling even more rapid development of new and original IP and better leveraging our talent across the entire Audacy portfolio,” said Crowley.

“Jenna’s strong leadership and deep industry relationships will propel us forward on our mission to be a leading partner of audio creators while super-serving listeners of all backgrounds and interests and enabling our sales teams to better serve our customers and partners with unique and compelling podcast opportunities.”

Weiss-Bermann steps into the role vacated by the departure of Chris Corcoran.

“His leadership, passion, and dedication are the creative force that successfully launched and built Cadence13 into the business that it is today, while also helping to position Audacy as a leading podcast company,” Crowley said of Corcoran. “I wish him continued success in his future endeavors.”

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Media Business

Quu Launches New Dashboard Ad Product

“We’re taking radio to new levels of engagement, enabling advertisers to reach a captive audience in a way that has never been possible before.”

Maddy Troy

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Radio technology company Quu has launched a new product called Content Partnership, which integrates visual advertising directly into radio programming. The new tech allows radio stations to display messages and images on vehicle dashboards for 30 seconds while a song or other programming is playing.

The process works as follows: when a song starts on a Quu-enabled station, the vehicle dashboard shows the song title, artist, and cover art for the first 90 seconds. Afterward, the visual switches to an ad for one of the station’s content partners for 30 seconds, displaying the advertiser’s name and a brief message. The display then reverts to the song title and artist for the remainder of the song, with the station name always present.

Quu positions the product as a new revenue opportunity that provides a broad reach through an exclusive ad unit. Generally, only two content partners will run at a time, with a content partner’s ad appearing on screen 4,000 times a month, resulting in 2,000 minutes of screen time per month, according to Inside Radio.

“With the Content Partnership, we’re taking radio to new levels of engagement, enabling advertisers to reach a captive audience in a way that has never been possible before,” said Quu CEO Steve Newberry.

Some of the first audio brands to adopt Content Partnership are Audacy, Beasley Media Group, Radio FM Fargo.

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