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GM No Longer Installing HD Radios
- Thread starter Barry
- Start date
No. What I’m suggesting is that car companies are moving towards a subscription model for in-car media, similar to what’s already happening in video, music, and software. I’m just wondering how and if a Sirius/iHeart merger would fit into that strategy.
From GM’s perspective, if I’m listening to terrestrial radio, or streaming Spotify through CarPlay, they are missing out on revenue from that. They would rather I pay for my connectivity through an “OnStar Media” subscription or whatever.
No, the plan is to be able to feed you ads relevant to you and your marketing profiles and make a profit off it.
HD Radio is only 1 way, no way to insert ads to you alone.
CarPlay totally takes GM out of the equation. Making you sign into google and use app directly allows them to market things to you directly and know where and how long you are listening.
That makes sense. However, I'm sure the car companies see it as more than that. GM's CarPlay replacement is part of OnStar. They were originally selling all the diagnostic data, information on your driving habits, etc that OnStar is collecting to third parties, but that has been restricted somewhat by the government. I assume that they're still hoping/planning on further monetizing the data they're collecting, and adding the streaming into the mix is just more data they can sell.
If that idea is true (and I'm not saying it isn't), we should see stories in the business press (but not in the general press) about contracts that GM has made with satellite and Internet radio providers that allow them to take 10% of sales.
Now, if such a deal were ever to occur, I think that not only other car companies but other unrelated industries (the recording industry, anyone?) might want to take a piece of the pie beyond what the current law allows it to have. Finally, I would posit that the satellite and computer services would *not* voluntarily negotiate a deal with GM or any other car companies to "share the wealth," as it were. Not even Elon Musk could get away with that one unless he offered to pay the satellite services more than they were getting from user fees and I don't think that *even* he would do that.
All of this is about good old-fashioned greed, of course. If any of this were ever to occur, I'll just bring whatever portable headphone radio or cassette player I had with me and silently tell those who offer such deals to go and pound sand!
My new to me 2023 Subaru Impreza has it as did my previous 2014 Subaru Impreza.
My relative's 2024 Audi has HD Radio.
SiriusXM already pays to car manufacturers.
"SiriusXM does not typically pay a flat fee per car to manufacturers; instead, they operate on a revenue-sharing model or pay subsidy fees for installation, often bundled into subscriber acquisition costs, which totaled $369 million in 2024. These costs include incentives to auto manufacturers for installing satellite radios and enabling trials. Revenue Sharing: SiriusXM pays automakers a portion of revenue generated from subscriptions initiated through their platforms." (Google AI)
Better is to ask which car models do not have satellite preinstalled. Both of our cars, new this year and two years ago, have SiriusXM standard, but only have Apple CarPlay as to ancillary services.
I have never checked whether either has HD.
Which means that @wildthangjim is correct to be concerned about automobile manufacturers trying to push consumers to purchase satellite services. Thanks for the heads up!
The Audi has SiriusXM, but the free trial expired. It was a used car too so I don’t know how it came with a free trial, I thought those were just for new cars. It also has Apple CarPlay.
“Barra said the feedback GM has received from customers is that switching between a car’s native infotainment system and smartphone projection is a clunky, distracting experience and that the automaker is focused on offering customers a great in-vehicle infotainment system with services that assist them and make their life better.”
It’s clunky because they want to drive demand for their “better” system.
They're not driving demand, but eliminating choice. It's how all the tech companies operate. Their system is always better.
Exactly. They want everything you do in the car to go through them (GM will have their own App Store). I can imagine in a few years, the only way to listen to radio in the car will be through a streaming app.
Keep in mind that the AM/FM radios they install are part of their system. There is no copyright or ownership, as there is with HD or CarPlay.
That's why the NAB's view that this is a radio industry problem is wrong. Radio companies have no ownership of the HD Radio trademark.
My 14 year old Jeep was very clunky when trying to stream from Bluetooth. Every time I turned off the ignition I had to start all over again.
Fortunately it has a wired audio input so I bought one of these:
Problem solved! Now I can stream anything from the phone with a couple of quick taps. (Using the wire, not the FM which sounds terrible.)
Fortunately it has a wired audio input so I bought one of these:
Problem solved! Now I can stream anything from the phone with a couple of quick taps. (Using the wire, not the FM which sounds terrible.)
Projection was a little clunky on my last GM vehicle because it was before wireless projection became a thing. I had to plug in the USB cable and make sure the phone was unlocked to get Android Auto to come up. I've replaced it with a later model Ford truck, where Android Auto starts up automatically about 5 seconds after I start the vehicle. Then I can just pick an Amazon Music playlist and go.
People will adapt.