Today Radio Ink reported that Pandora is being dropped from Toyota’s dash display. The report was based on an email sent to Toyota Entune users by the carmaker. Is this dire for Pandora? Should radio be celebrating? No. And no. I own a late model Toyota and I received that email. First, anyone who is forced to suffer Toyota’s miserable Entune entertainment system knows it’s easily the worst thing about their Toyota which, fortunately, can be easily circumvented by accessing t

As of this writing Inside JAWS is at #2 on Apple Podcasts. #1 in the TV/Film category. Cue proof of performance… So what are the lessons from this (beyond the notion that everybody is listening to Inside JAWS so you should, too)? There are many but I’ll boil down a few: Do great work that you can be enormously proud of Collaborate with peerless, talented collaborators (thank you, Jeff Schmidt) Align with a network that cares about the content as much as you do and knows how t

Well, not “too smart” per se, but too well educated. And not “too well educated” per se, but so educated they are out of step with the rest of America, or as I like to call them/us: Regular people. Here’s the colorful proof, based on Census data and Edison Research data: Yep. 41% of Americans are graced with a High School education or less. Only 12% have Graduate degrees. Compare that to the regular Podcast listener. Only 15% H.S. or less. 30% have Graduate degrees – almost 6

If you haven’t checked out Inside the Exorcist, now’s the time. The series is in the top 10 on Apple Podcasts (as of this writing). And it’s a solid #1 in the Movie/TV category. And it has been getting some glowing reviews, including this one from the movie/TV industry publication Indiewire: So listen here and subscribe. And please take a few moments to give the series a rating on Apple Podcasts or wherever you consume your podcast content. As you know, these efforts help sur

Apple’s TV strategy revealed! And… Video wins online – but where’s the money? Plus, rants and raves about Dyson’s move into electric vehicles, the scale of Amazon’s investment in Alexa, 12 questions that will change your life, and my own new podcast about the people and the making of the movie The Exorcist. It’s episode 72 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the p

The final blockbuster chapter of my 6-part podcast inspired by the making of the movie Psycho wraps up in horrifying fashion today, and I invite you to hear it. It’s Inside Psycho. If you hear none of the previous chapters, please catch this final one. It charts the sorrowful decline of Alfred Hitchcock, the way he was shunned by his Hollywood peers, and the love that made it all worthwhile. It also illustrates the legacy of Psycho and wraps up with a tale that is best heard

Today is the day! The first two episodes of Inside Psycho are now available! That’s the podcast I am producing for Wondery – a six-part series about the trials and tribulations, the joy and sadness, the humor and horror behind the scenes during, before, and after the making of the Hitchcock classic, Psycho. The show is already off to a strong start – I’ve done a slew of interviews about it, and it’s featured by Apple as “New and Noteworthy.” You can find the audio here (or he

Last week I told you about the new podcast I am producing for Wondery: Inside Psycho. This week I am proud to announce that Inside Psycho is now #1 on iTunes in the TV & Film category (#46 overall at this writing). It’s also featured by Apple as “New and Noteworthy,” which is a special privilege. Now, these are dynamic lists and rankings to be sure. Stuff changes. And iTunes rankings aren’t the whole story. But even so, with the zillions of podcasts in distribution every day

Apple says fake news is “killing people’s minds” – really? And… Publishing platform Medium crashes – and idealism burns. Plus, rants and raves about Oscar-nominated screenwriters sharing some hilarious studio notes, and more. It’s episode 58 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this by email, click here for the audio. Sa

Apple is the new Hollywood! And… You can’t fix Twitter. Plus, rants and raves about new products at CES that make perfectly good items too complicated, advice on writing stronger that should be more strongly written, Tom’s great new book, “I Am Keats,” and more. It’s episode 56 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this b

The evolution of the car dashboard: It’s all some folks in radio want to talk about. Understandably, since such a large fraction of radio listening happens while driving. But isn’t it just the nature of disruption to change the conversation all at once? And that’s what happened today with the news that consumers wanting Android Auto no longer need to wait to buy a compatible car to use the platform. Now the platform is coming to them!Look out #radio: #android #auto is coming

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock you know that Apple released its latest iPhone last week, and the announcement came with all the usual pomp and publicity. But what does the iPhone 7 mean if you’re working in the radio industry? The key thing is the much noted removal of the 3.5mm Earbud jack, an output device that – until now – has been ubiquitous. Sure, Apple will provide a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter in the box along with some standard Earbuds with a Lightning connect

Estimates vary, but the consensus seems to be that we’ll see a meaningful number of self-driving cars replacing the human-powered ones by 2020, less than four years hence. Personally, I think that’s a bit optimistic, but I have no doubt that the future of cars is a self-powered one. While we fret about the future of radio in fast-changing conventional dashboards, we’re missing the much bigger worry: What happens when all the tech sacrifices made to cater to the driver’s atten

Remember when buying a new car meant more than buying an entertainment system that also happened to contain wheels? In other words, remember when you bought the car, not the entertainment system? No longer. Watch this TV spot for the new Kia Optima. It compares the entertainment system “in most mid-size sedans” to a Rubiks Cube. The solution to that problem? Apple CarPlay! So doing stuff via your entertainment system in your car “is as easy as it is on your iPhone.” This stra

So what does it mean when the radio industry headlines lead with debt-burdened iHeartMedia and this: iHeartMedia Battles Angry Creditors as Bankruptcy Looms. What does it mean when the next headline is about Cumulus, and this quotation: “Q4 and 2015 results dismal as radio’s decline shows no signs of stabilization.” What does it mean when CBS announces their plan to spin all of their radio assets while at the same time vowing to boost revenue $3.75 Billion by 2020 based on ev

Ford is going all-in on bringing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to the auto dashboard: Ford is making Apple CarPlay and Android Auto available on all 2017 vehicles equipped with Sync 3 in North America, starting with the all-new Ford Escape. Owners of 2016 vehicles equipped with Sync 3 will get an opportunity to upgrade “later in the year,” the company said without providing details. What this means is that, beginning with 2017 auto models, the new car will essentially become

5 Critical Media Trends for 2016. And… Nobody Wants Your App! Plus, rants and raves on Adele’s latest success, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Microsoft and Apple Let There Be Peace on Earth. It’s episode 32 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this by email, click here for the audio. For show notes go to the Media Unplug

Every time there’s some new innovation out there which enhances the choice set available to consumers who want to hear audio entertainment or information, a chill runs up the spine of every broadcaster, because with such a large fraction of listening, radio seems to stand more to lose than to gain from the expansion of choice. Without question, new choices squeeze existing options. Indeed, given the growing number of distractions available to consumers across every platform –

Apple says the future of TV is apps – but is it? And… Why is Verizon launching a video service nobody is asking for? It’s episode 27 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves for the ubiquity of all things “artisanal,” the 23rd Annual Sports Fan Loyalty Index, MTV’s gangbuster ratings performance for the VMA’s – on Snapchat, and the delightful inappropriateness of Nicki Minaj’s wax figure at Madame Tussauds.

Recently one of my radio clients explained how his 20-year-old daughter uses radio: “She chases her favorite songs around the dial,” he said. For her, every station button is another chance at hitting the proverbial jackpot. Either I land on a song I love or I don’t. And if I don’t, I move to the next button. It’s radio as slot machine, and – like a slot machine – the odds are better than even that any given spin is a loser. But this is the behavior of someone who is using ra