So much of radio listening is taking place in the car, it is why Mel Karmazin once said he felt cell phone usage in the automobile should be outlawed. Not for safety purposes but because it took away from listening to the radio.
Last week I wrote about Sprint and Emmis chief Jeff Smulyan leading the way to having cell phones activate radio chips. This would certainly free broadcast radio to be in your pocket or purse 24-7. Then two new stories hit this week. One is mostly good news for broadcast radio and one is scarier than hellfire. The Radio Advertising Bureau reported that local online revenue grew more than 20 percent in 2012. This is the good news part of the story. The other side is radio is still far behind almost every other media for creating revenue online. This growth still points to more usage of websites and presumably online listening to broadcast radio.
Part of the reason is we are talking about local radio and clusters having their own strategy so there is not really a defined template in place. Clear Channel has its strategy with iHeartRadio. Many other companies have embraced it but, in the case of Cumulus, while they are partners in iHeartRadio, they concentrate much of their efforts on SweetJack. Smaller broadcast companies simply add a page to their sales pitches and hope for the best.
The other story that sends chills up the spines of broadcasters is the news that General Motors will begin offering Wi-Fi in their automobiles by the Summer of 2014. GM is not the only automaker to climb aboard the Wi-Fi express. All of the luxury automakers will be providing it by next year and it will quickly filter down to all cars on the road in short order. One of the questions, of course, is cost. Most new cars come today with Sirius/XM and in many cases the buyer gets free access for 90-180 days. Not every new car owner re-ups for the service once the trial period expires and cost must play some role in that decision. So will new car buyers play $20 or $30 a month to have Wi-Fi access when they already pay for it at home and on their cell phones?   Additionally, Sirius/XM users may make the choice to stay with satellite and not move to Wi-Fi, or vice versa. I doubt that many people are going to pay for both. How would you feel about adding $30-$50 a month to your car payment? I know that I won’t do it. For no additional cost, you get 20-80 broadcast radio stations in your car right now.
GM’s partner in this project predicts this could be worth $1B to their company. Folks, that $1B doesn’t grow on trees. It comes from consumers who are today in the midst of figuring out how to pay new fees for health care and sequestration avoidance (politicians like to call taxes fees because apparently Americans don’t know how to use a thesaurus).
I am a broadcast radio guy. My entire work life has been spent in broadcast radio. I like more access to broadcast radio. I am not a Luddite. Wait a minute. Yes, I am. I like traditional broadcast radio. I believe the only way to hold back the charging forces of technological advances in delivery systems is to provide great content and compelling radio every hour of every day. I don’t think enough radio is doing that so we may very well be inviting the competition. And if that is true, shame on us.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)

Since many of this week’s Country Radio Seminar attendees reside outside Tennessee, they received an experience that is essentially Nashville last night (Feb. 27)–attending the Grand Ole Opry. However, instead of taking everyone to the Opry House, they brought the Grand Ole Opry to the attendees at the Nashville Convention Center.
The NCC stage was set up with the Grand Ole Opry backdrop and lighting along with performances from several of the Opry’s members. The evening kicked off with a video introduction from Carrie Underwood, who gave an overview of the Grand Ole Opry’s history. Vince Gill, who served as host for the evening and who was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1991, greeted the crowd with “Take Your Memory With You When You Go.” His sharp wit and dry sense of humor was on full display the entire evening. “That thunderous applause is overwhelming. Did you just eat?” he deadpanned after wrapping up “Take Your Memory…”
He brought out Little Big Town, who warmed up the crowd with “Tornado.” They then introduced another track from their Tornado album, the gorgeous ballad “Your Side of the Bed,” featuring a duet between Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook. “The one we are about to play is the one we are about to send you [country radio], so you can play it on the radio too if you want,” said Fairchild. They closed the trio of tunes with their summer No. 1 hit, “Pontoon.”
Next came a lineup of three of country’s traditional-leaning male singers–Dustin Lynch, Josh Turner and Greg Bates. Lynch performed his current single, “She Cranks My Tractor” before thanking radio for their support of his previous single, “Cowboys and Angels.”  Turner (who was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2007) treated the crowd to his deep register on the songs “Long Black Train” and “Deeper Than My Love.” “I never have to worry about Vince Gill cutting that song,” he said, referring to Gill’s high tenor. Bates offered his debut single, “Did It For The Girl” before performing his clever new single, “Fill In The Blank.”
Ashley Monroe injected some old-school country into the evening with her airy, lilting voice on “Like A Rose,” the title track of her upcoming album, with backing guitar and vocal work from Gill. Following Monroe were performances from Scotty McCreery, then Nashville‘s Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio, who were received enthusiastically by the radio crowd.
After a video clip of Darius Rucker‘s induction into the Grand Ole Opry last year, Rucker performed two of his signature tunes, “Alright” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” before lending his booming voice to a cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” (also Rucker’s latest single).
The show hit a minor snag when host Gill mispronounced Kacey Musgraves’ name upon introducing her. The misstep became a running joke throughout the rest of the evening. Musgraves, who has a surging hit on the MusicRow CountryBreakout chart with “Merry Go Round,” charmed the crowd with her candor on “Step Off” and her aforementioned debut single.

The evening closed with an acoustic performance from Brad Paisley, who was inducted in 2001. He sang “This Is Country Music,” followed by “Southern Comfort Zone.” After joining in on the fun with a wisecrack about Gill’s age, Gill reminded him that many artists have had their names mispronounced during their debut performance including Martina McBride and Gill himself. “Thank you, Vern,” Paisley replied. The friends and fellow Opry members closed the show with “Mud On The Tires,” with Gill on background vocals and guitar.