(Weekend Edition)
Pandora founder Tim Westergren is so devoted to capturing the in-car listening war that he calls it "the holy grail." "Simply put, half of radio listening happens in the car. People spend 20 hours a week listening to music; 17 hours of that is from radio. About half of that radio listening, or 8.5 hours, occurs while they're in a car. So that's the holy grail." Westergren makes it no secret what the number one goal of the music service is: "We're actively developing products with car manufacturers and after-market stereo companies such as Pioneer and others. We're already working with Ford, Mercedes and other companies that we can't talk about now. Our goal is to be in every new car that rolls off the manufacturing line." ...
In an enlightening interview with the L.A. Times, Westergren says that "half of the 20 million people who have Pandora on their iPhones use it in the car. We can't promote that kind of usage because of the safety concerns involved when you're driving and trying to control your phone at the same time. So the future is being able to control Pandora right from your steering wheel." Now if that's not a campaign for Oprah, what is? Oprah can follow her "no texting while driving" campaign with "no Pandora listening on iPhones while driving." ...
In addition to carelessly listening to iPhones in cars for their Pandora fix, "Pandora can also be heard on 200 unique devices now, from Blu-ray players to flat-screen TVs. The average user spends five hours a day listening from those devices. It's a growing category for us" says Westergren. Westergren is a smart guy - he provides for Pandora what Mel Karmazin provides for Sirius XM and that's real leadership. Pandora is only one of three major radio/music service groups (w/CBS Radio & NPR) offering an app targeting the iPad consumer. This at a time when Apple has sold 4.2 million iPads and is becoming a major radio listening post...
10 Timeline Memories:
1.1931] Say hello to the George: The George Washington Bridge connecting Manhattan and New Jersey opens to the public (10/24)...
2.1956] Debuted on this date: NBC-TV broadcasts the first video tape coast-to-coast. It's a tape of Jonathan Winters performing (10/23)...
3.1962] JFK tells all: President John F. Kennedy addresses a TV audience about the Russian missile bases in Cuba and the world will hold its collective breath until the missiles are removed and the crisis ends (10/22)...
4.1972] 'Happy Trails': Severe heart problems take their toll of Jackie Robinson who passes away at 53 (10/24)...2005] American civil rights activist Rosa Parks dies in her Detroit apartment at 92 (10/24)...
5.1973] Dead air: President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over the Watergate tapes as the clock ticks (10/23)...
6.1979] Opening the door: The U.S. government allows the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment (10/22)...
7.1983] Beirut blast: A suicide truck bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon kills 241 U.S. Marines and sailors. Another attack kills 58 French paratroopers (10/23)...
8.1986] Chopper down: WNBC traffic reporter Jane Dornacker is killed while doing traffic reports. Her chopper goes down in the Hudson River (10/22)...
9.1998] Sniper attack: Dr. Barnett Slepian, an abortion doctor was killed at his home in suburban Buffalo when a sniper fired through his kitchen window. James Kopp is convicted of the murder and is serving 25-to-life in prison (10/23)...
10.2009] A show business legend is lost: Soupy Sales passes away from cancer at the age of 83 (10/22)...
Music Memories:
- 1965] Released on this date: "Turn, Turn, Turn" - Byrds (Lynn Phillips' 1st favorite song) (10/23)...
- 1966] Released on this date: "Good Vibrations" - Beach Boys (10/22)...
- 1966] Number One on this date: "Supremes a Go-Go" LP (10/22)...
Commentary:
An R&R Alumni Party will be held Saturday, November 6 at the Cellar Bar & Grill in Century City, CA. Admission is $25 before November 5, $30 at the door. Festivities will begin at 7PM at the bar at 1880 Century Park East. Our good friends who worked at the radio & records bible - for all or part of its 36 years of existence should contact NancyHoff20@yahoo.com ...On a serious note: we were sorry to hear about the losses of Bob Guccione (Penthouse) and Buffalo radio mainstay, Boom Boom Brannigan...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday": (10/22) Robinson Cano (28), Jeff Goldblum (58), Eddie Brigati (64), Deepak Chopra (64), Leslie West (65), Catherine Deneuve (67), Annette Funicello (68), Tony Roberts (71), Christopher Lloyd (72) and Joan Fontaine (93)...(10/23) Al Leiter (45), Doug Flutie (48), Weird Al Yankovic (51), Brian Ross (62), Pele (70) and baseball hall-of-famer/Senator Jim Bunning (79)...(10/24) Corey Dillon (36), Kevin Kline (63), F. Murray Abraham (71), Santo Farina (73), Bill Wyman (74), David Nelson (74) and Y.A. Tittle (84)...
Timeline Countdown: 6 days until Game One of the World Series, 9 nights until Halloween, 16 days until standard time and 34 days until Thanksgiving...
