Across Europe, there are about 413 million vehicles, about 28% of the world’s total, according to automotive research agency Hedges & Company. And as in the United States, radio is an important part of the European in-car audio ecosystem.
Given the importance of in-car radio in Europe, it’s no surprise the European Broadcasting Union is thinking strategically about how the driver–radio interface works. Writing on the EBU Blog, Tomas Granryd, head of digital partnerships at Sveriges Radio, outlined what is being called “The Playbook.”
“But despite its popularity with the public, it can be increasingly difficult to find the radio in modern cars. Too often the radio is hidden behind a confusing maze of buttons and menus. Or radio is listed along with connectivity standards such as USB and Bluetooth,” Granryd writes.
He noted that the issue isn’t simply the in-dash interface, but also the proliferation of digital apps broadcasters have created for nonlinear listening, especially if the driver is interacting with the car’s entertainment system through voice controls.
“Today, there is little regulation or consensus regarding how voice control should interact with services in the car. As opposed to a search in a web browser, voice search can typically only return a single result. What happens when you search for a particular podcast name by voice?,” writes Granryd. “If I ask to listen to the SR P3 channel on my way to work, does it start live streaming of our morning show or does it start playing a song called ‘P3’ from Spotify? Without action from broadcasters, we may make it harder for our audiences to continue to connect with our content.”
Granryd and the EBU are calling for the radio industry as whole to act together to ensure radio — including broadcaster’s apps — are easily found by drivers. The Playbook effort is beginning with EBU members assuming “a common, clear map of who are the key players (including broadcasters) and what is required to ensure that audiences can continue to easily find and listen to the content they love.”
The effort, Granryd writes, is focused on collaboration “all parts of the value chain: the car industry, operating system providers, app stores and the radio industry must work together.”
It’s no surprise Granryd has been tasked with coordinating The Playbook project on behalf of the EBU. As head of digital partnerships for SR, he has been leading the Swedish public-service broadcaster’s work on the presence of radio and SR in connected cars for the past five years.
