This is the third in a series about the annual Techsurvey. Read the second part on digital consumption and the first on why listeners are still tuning in. More than four in five respondents in the latest Techsurvey own vehicles with dashboards displaying artist and title information. A majority of those said they pay attention to the dashboard display. The survey from Jacobs Media found that’s especially true for younger respondents and mores with women than men. Techsurvey results also showed that radio listeners expect more than just music to be displayed, said Fred Jacobs, president of Jacobs Media, in a recent presentation of the results of the 2026 survey. “Metadata in the dashboard is another way that vehicles are becoming visualized. Now there are a number of car manufacturers … putting 8k screens like BMW. But the ability to be able to actually message on the dashboard is really important for radio,” Jacobs said. The most recent survey keyed in on the messaging wants of the respondents. Emergency weather information, breaking news and traffic alerts rate especially high, according to the survey earlier this year of nearly U.S. 31,000 radio listeners. Furthermore, Jacobs said, respondents being able to just glance down and see there’s sever weather coming, or if the stock market just lost 800 points. “There is a pecking order for what people desire to see in the dash, but current song title and artist remains a strong top choice,” he explained. Easy on the eyes Jacobs emphasized the notion of visual radio in his presentation, with a central question: “Would you like video with that?” Techsurvey 2026 reinforced the importance of YouTube as part of a station’s video footprint. It remains a dominant platform, with 62% of respondents saying they use YouTube weekly. A majority of those surveyed are aware of their favorite station’s YouTube channel and visit it regularly. “I think it’s important for those of you who either have YouTube channels or thinking about doing those to think about what the use cases are. Why does your audience go to YouTube anyway? And is there a way that maybe you can match up your content with some of the stuff that they’re already watching? You may actually be able to do that,” he said. As Jacobs said on the TS2026 presentation: “The eyes have it.” Radio needs to become more visually focused, he said,… [TheTopNews] Read More.
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