No real AM or FM radio in the R2

[Mos Eisley]

I assure you that I have been reading the entire thread. The only person that pointed out sports blackouts was the one I quoted, and no one else seemed to have carried on that topic.

I have the iHeart app on my phone. The station that carries the football game is in there. But what I have experienced in the past is that while at home, if I get into my truck, I can listen to that station and hear the game being broadcast. But if I try to listen to that using the iHeart app on my phone, I get the blackout. Unless Rivian & iHeart have worked out some kind of arrangement where streaming to the truck can work around blackouts I see this is a problem, just like the people who live/adventure outside of cell reception area.

That, I'm afraid, is at the mercy of each market, their teams, their leagues and their agreements. AM/FM/Broadcast TV were all better when it comes to universal convenience. Just another industry the internet broke and monetized.

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[avidal]

This is a disappointment to me also, but not enough to stop me from putting in my order once Coastal Cloud is available.

I typically listen to Spotify, Pocket Casts, or my local NPR station. I know TuneIn has KUT but preroll ads? Really? Also hopeful that Pocket Casts comes to Rivian OS, I prefer it to all other podcast providers.

 

[SwampNut]

There are probably three subsets of users of media in cars. None of us are likely to understand each other. Personally I think one group of you is insane, LOL.

1. "I want audio entertainment while driving." That's me, and HOW exactly it gets there is going to be managed/chosen by how convenient it is to get exactly what I want on my time, without forcing times or channels or whatever on me. And no ads, that's a deal breaker. This is easy to solve, and I have for at least a decade.

2. "I want to get radio (or other specific method) and how do I accomplish this?" I think for the most part people in this mindset could find solutions that are better. The delivery method itself shouldn't matter, but how to get the entertainment you want is the goal, right? In tech, people are constantly stuck in the old ways to do a thing and focus on that, instead of the thing (goal).

3. "I want to listen to live media." I think you're insane. In the 90s we finally got DVRs and then MP3 players so we wouldn't be stuck to a schedule of live media, and the ads, and the talking morons on it. Now we have people going back to those problems willingly?

Some of you will get your feathers bunched and panties ruffled, but carry on...

 

[LeDiable]

That, I'm afraid, is at the mercy of each market, their teams, their leagues and their agreements. AM/FM/Broadcast TV were all better when it comes to universal convenience. Just another industry the internet broke and monetized.

Agreed, monetization sucks.

The station carrying the games is part of iHeart so I hadn't checked TuneIn before now - their site makes it seem like I would be able to listen to the games, but I'll have to wait a few months to know for sure. TuneIn requires Connect+ or phone hotspot as well. For as little as I drive, I haven't felt the need for Connect+ so I have my phone's hotspot turn on automatically. It takes longer than I'd like for the "leaving home" trigger and then the truck to connect, but it does work so perhaps I can fine tune it some.

 

[dfx]

There are probably three subsets of users of media in cars. None of us are likely to understand each other. Personally I think one group of you is insane, LOL.

1. "I want audio entertainment while driving." That's me, and HOW exactly it gets there is going to be managed/chosen by how convenient it is to get exactly what I want on my time, without forcing times or channels or whatever on me. And no ads, that's a deal breaker. This is easy to solve, and I have for at least a decade.

2. "I want to get radio (or other specific method) and how do I accomplish this?" I think for the most part people in this mindset could find solutions that are better. The delivery method itself shouldn't matter, but how to get the entertainment you want is the goal, right? In tech, people are constantly stuck in the old ways to do a thing and focus on that, instead of the thing (goal).

3. "I want to listen to live media." I think you're insane. In the 90s we finally got DVRs and then MP3 players so we wouldn't be stuck to a schedule of live media, and the ads, and the talking morons on it. Now we have people going back to those problems willingly?

Some of you will get your feathers bunched and panties ruffled, but carry on...

it's about Sports...and yes Sports are best when on a live broadcast. It doesn't matter to everyone but it does matter to a group of us. We're not living in the 90's, we're simply sports fans that get nickled and dimed everywhere because we follow the one live media that will always be relevant.

 

[Jeremy3292]

If the O/U = 26 I’m reluctantly taking the under

 

[Alan in Tempe]

FM became obsolete long ago. Like fax.

Look up obsolete. It means no longer used nor produced. Both FM and fax are used and produced. Fax is certainly approaching becoming obsolete, but you can still buy, for example, multifunction printers that include fax capabilities, so still in production. On the other hand, FM is certainly not obsolete, and not rapidly approaching obsolescent, even if you and many others stop using it. There are far more still tuning in to FM than those who don't, especially in vehicles.

 

[Mos Eisley]

None of the above means I have an opinion on whether Rivian should or shouldn't remove the radio. I just don't care.

Apparently, you do. Otherwise why bother with this thread?

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

I'm just happy to have no shark fin on the roof - less worry in low clearance garages - haven't listened to terrestrial radio in years - streaming and podcasts FTW

Hold up - how close to the clearance are you driving your cars lol

 

[R1S88]

Hold up - how close to the clearance are you driving your cars lol

Urban living- Sometimes I need to remember to lower into sport mode

 

[SwampNut]

Urban living- Sometimes I need to remember to lower into sport mode

Or suburban living. Last night we went downtown and in low mode, still held my breath going into the garage. I always forget the actual height number.

 

[Hillbilly]

This is getting very close to being a deal breaker for me no matter how much I otherwise love the R2. Although I live in the middle of San Diego county, cell coverage is almost dead at my house (I have to use WiFi calling on my iPhone) and very spotty in the immediate neighborhood, and encounter a lot of dead zones driving around the county. Going to a pure app-based cellular solutions is quite handicapped.

On top of that, I find that iHeart has only a minimal selection of the San Diego area FM stations, and omitted are a couple of stations I listen to the most, KPBS public radio and the excellent KSDS jazz and blues station. It appears that pretty much any of the actual live radio channels around here are not on iHeart, and the stations they do carry are all those pre-packaged stations that are mass produced elsewhere in studios and passed off as “local” radio. Check the iHeart directory to see what is carried in your area; you may be very disappointed.

For those of us who live in areas where wildfires are common, sometimes the local radio has been critical for health and safety. There was one fire where we were evacuated and numerous homes in our neighborhood were lost, and the fire took out many cell sites and remaining network was completely swamped with traffic, rendering data service unusable. Live radio coverage was essential. I’m sure people in other parts of the country prone to natural disasters have similar experience.

It is ironic that Rivian keeps touting the off road and adventure nature of the R2, but then equips it in a way that requires cellular service for almost everything like navigation and entertainment. This is really another classic example of “enshitification”, where the early promise of tech (in this case streaming) is becoming ruined by ill-advised evolutionary directions. It seems absurd that the ”fully featured” vehicle I might buy today has much less entertainment capability than any car I’ve owned in the last dozen years.

Just get a starlink.

 

[LevelHeaded]

Just get a starlink.

Without even commenting on how that doesn’t really solve the problem of being able to listen to sports/news/weather/traffic while driving (without a very intense setup, permanent mount of the receiver on the roof; and does it even work when the vehicle is in motion) I think a large portion of Rivian customers specifically avoid Tesla due to Tesla leadership, so this suggestion is funny!

 

[Hillbilly]

Without even commenting on how that doesn’t really solve the problem of being able to listen to sports/news/weather/traffic while driving (without a very intense setup, permanent mount of the receiver on the roof; and does it even work when the vehicle is in motion) I think a large portion of Rivian customers specifically avoid Tesla due to Tesla leadership, so this suggestion is funny!

Your loss. It would allow you to stream whatever you want without worrying about cellular connectivity.

 

[LevelHeaded]

Your loss. It would allow you to stream whatever you want without worrying about cellular connectivity.

I’m not losing anything, I’m not buying a R2. Was just commenting on the suggestion in general!

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