The Infinite Dial

As has been noted many times, including in this blog, in-car listening has seemed to be the primary lifeline for 'terrestrial' radio. While Arbitron consistently shows in-home and at-work TSL dropping, in-car listening has been stable-to-up.

Most of this increase, or at least 'lack of decrease', can be attributed to the ever-increasing amount of time Americans are spending in their cars.

Now, however, the competition for in-car radio Time Spent Listening is coming - and burgeoning.

Of course Satellite, with all its profile, has been the most discussed challenge. Much has been written about WiMax...and if and when that comes the true revolution will begin.

But even in the shorter term, the car has become a battle zone.

An astonishing number of cars roll off the lines today with built-in DVD systems to keep the kids occupied in the back seat.

The GPS systems are rapidly moving from novelty to standard equipment, and all of them plan to replace the 'old-fashioned' radio traffic report.

And car companies are jumping over themselves to make integration with the iPod easier, through Bluetooth or other solutions.

Can radio successfully compete in this environment? Of course. It will still be the leader for a long time to come...but today's radio companies must start to see themselves as being in the 'in-car' entertainment and information' biz, not just the AM/FM biz.