The grand finale eQB of 2014 enlists a select and diverse group of industry pros as we give them the opportunity to shed some light on the current state of affairs surrounding radio, and have them peek at the path of future progress. Expect astute contributions from: Peter Smyth, Pat Paxton, Rick Cummings, Jon Zellner, Dom Theodore, Rick Vaughn, Jimmy Steal, Pat Welsh, Fred Jacobs, John Mayer, Bob Quick and Brad Holtz
Our panel of experts express their opinions addressing the following four areas.
- What are the biggest challenges radio will confront in 2015, and which areas will these challenges predominantly come from?
- Is radio’s product good enough (content and delivery wise) to successfully compete in the vast multi-media arena, and what advancements need to be addressed to insure growth and to sharpen the competitive edges?
- Other than audience engagement, enhanced branding and distribution of content, in what other areas can social media platforms be optimized to further increase radio’s value?
- What are your bold predictions for each of the radio and the music industries for the forthcoming year?
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Peter H. Smyth, Chairman & CEO, Greater Media, Inc.
• Our challenges in the coming year will come from many different sources, both large and nationwide as well as startups and small, local challengers. With the explosive growth of digitally-based marketing opportunities, we will see these startups and pure plays calling on advertising clients of ours with more and more frequency. No advertiser wants to waste their marketing dollars, but they are also confused and curious. They do not want to be left behind in the new digital gold rush. What we need to stress is that, even in a digital, fragmented world, most businesses need some form of mass awareness to drive awareness “at scale” (as the digital folks would say). This is radio’s long-proven strength, and we need to proudly reinforce it.
• While we have to respond to rapidly changing audience behaviors, we also have a near-term challenge to keep our Nielsen ratings as high as possible. From the number of spots in a stop set, to the length and freshness of the music list, the primary prism of a Program Director is ratings. However, he or she has to keep looking at the competition coming from online delivery systems for both music and spoken word, and realize that each of their listeners has viable options that are not broadcast. If those listeners get a “better deal” (an experience that fills their listening needs) they’ll be gone. And then we face the difficult task of re-engaging them. We need to make our product available for more listener choice and control in the digital space, and that means more than just a simulcast of our air signal. We need to measure our product with two yardsticks, new competition and legacy ratings competition, and attempt to balance our efforts.
• Social media provides us with a platform for a different relationship with our audience and potential listeners. I would say that what the PPM takes away (experimentation, in depth conversations, music features), online and social media can provide. We can have conversations with individuals, not just audience groups. Our air personalities can be more than just friendly voices; they can become real friends with their best listeners. And we can convert those fans into ambassadors to their social network. Social media has its own set of rules and expectations, and fortunately, your favorite radio station is usually considered a “friend” rather than another “brand” wanting to sell you something. Social media promotion for our advertising clients will, most times, be a paid posting or sponsored Tweet, in order to not erode or kill the station’s relationship with our listeners. While it is a service we can provide for advertisers who need it, I don’t expect social to be a revenue gain for us in the future.
• If Santa could do one thing for both industries in the coming year, it would be to deliver a fair and acceptable solution to the royalty situation.
Jon Zellner
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Jon Zellner, SVP/Programming. iHeartMedia
• In 2015, the battle for dashboard space will become more heated as more and more connected cars roll off the assembly line. The good news is that radio still reaches over 90% of the 300+ million people in America and that number hasn’t changed much in the past 40 years, but decreased occasions of listening is our biggest challenge today. Radio’s digital story will be our true measurement of success when our brands compete head to head against online music services in the car. There are many factors in play but at the end of the day, radio programmers need to remember the three main reasons why listeners seek us out: discovery, surprise and companionship. Listeners still discover new music primarily on the radio. There’s nothing like the “surprise” of hearing an unexpected song when you turn on the radio. And, the emotional connection established by radio talent is unmatched by any other media entity. The talent is sitting in the passenger seat while the listener drives and that companionship is priceless.
• The key to radio’s success will continue to be about mobility and offering listeners the products and services they want and expect. While digital music services have “listeners,” radio stations have developed millions of “fans” over the past 90 years because of the impact our brands have on their local markets. Music services simply have replaced music collections (albums, CDs, tapes) that people have listened to for years, but never at the expense of radio.
• There is huge upside in the digital space both from content and revenue perspectives. It starts with better training for our programmers and sellers so we can show advertisers that they don’t have to necessarily increase their marketing spend, but simply move dollars to the radio sector (including digital) to get a better ROI than simply buying digital ads or spending money on TV and print. From a social perspective, our talent needs to live their lives on the radio and through social media. Dynamic leads and thumbnails have been added to the list of what a talent needs to consider when doing show prep and there are intricacies when it comes to what to post, how often to post and where to post photos, video and text. This new world of connecting to our listeners will be crucial in keeping our talent and our brands relevant and top of mind.
• I do think radio and the music industry have made great progress in working together directly and recognizing that we need both entities to succeed. Music still sells primarily because of radio airplay and that starts with the trust between our talent and their listeners and our programmers and the artists. Our future depends on us looking beyond radio for talent, digital content operators, promotions and marketing directors and sellers. It depends on us talking to young people to stay relevant and understanding that the best ideas aren’t necessarily coming from inside the industry. It depends on staying ahead of and embracing technology while recognizing that we will be memorable not because of what we do, but because of how we make our listeners feel.
Dom Theodore
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Dom Theodore, CEO, RadioAnimal Media Strategies and
VP/Programming, The Blaze Radio Network
• The biggest challenge that the radio industry has faced and will continue to face in 2015 is simply remaining a relevant source of entertainment for people under 40. We continue to see audiences erode on the younger end, and radio continues to fight the wrong battles to defend its shrinking position. Most of these new technologies are “appliances” that dispense music, with very little content beyond that. Most terrestrial radio stations try to compete with those technologies on an “appliance” level and that’s a huge mistake. If that’s the battleground, we’ve already lost. Instead, we need to showcase our differences, and that starts with talent. I’m more convinced than ever that talent will be the key point of differentiation between radio and other audio entertainment mediums, but we have to do a much better job finding and developing true talent. Not just announcers, but interesting people who actually have something to say. Also, radio needs to take more chances in the area of unique content development. Broadcast companies used to take intelligent risks and develop new and unique formats. Now, in the era of minimizing risk, companies are playing it too safe and are so married to “best practices” that they forgot about innovation. Meanwhile, new media is the “wild wild west” of content where people are encouraged to try new things and that’s where the innovation is. Radio needs to take a page from this and fund attempts at new and innovative content.
• Radio’s product could be better. The big issue is we’ve stopped taking chances as an industry. We’ve also pulled back on talent in an over-reaction to the PPM ratings measurement system, and have really minimized our unique selling propositions in favor of “best practices.” And the younger you go in format target, the more disconnected we become. I’m always amazed when a radio station that targets millennials still produces their imaging and scripts their jocks like its 1996. Authentic is in…over-produced and artificial is out. The growly image voice is out. Can you imagine an Apple commercial being voiced by the typical radio image voice? It would seem like a parody! But that’s precisely what listeners think radio is, a bad parody of itself. We need to stop being boring and predictable. I literally heard two different jocks on two different radio stations in a big market do the exact same break structure within 15 minutes of each other recently. The prizes and song names were different, but both jocks literally set it up as, “listen for (song), be caller___ when you hear it, and you’ll win (prize).” If this is all we have to offer listeners, it’s over. This is supposed to be entertainment. Programmers need to take chances on true entertainers, and get rid of “announcers” that are meaningless.
• I’d like to see more real-time interaction and topic incubation on social media so it runs in conjunction with what’s on the air. The problem now is jocks are doing their content online and just teasing it on the air. Why not have a conversation running concurrently both on-air and via social? Also, keep the sales department away from your social media assets. The minute you start tweeting or posting spam, you lose social credibility and become part of the noise that gets ignored. Social media should be used as a way to develop a one-to-one relationship with listeners outside of one’s air-shift, and complement (not replace) the content that’s on-the-air.
• I’m often criticized for telling the truth, but I can’t help myself. Here you go…1) The talent/creative side of the industry will continue to be cut in favor of centralized “one-size fits all” programming. 2) R&D and innovation will continue to be unfunded in favor of “best practices” that have already been done time and time again. 3) The music industry will continue to lose money. 4) We will see more application of the “connected car” which will allow anybody to create a “national” radio station that can be heard anywhere there’s a high speed data connection. 5) We will continue to see the “Old School” Hip-Hop format grow – this is one of the few innovative formats we’ve seen in a while. 6) Radio will continue to “play it safe” from a content standpoint, with most of the innovation coming out of smaller and mid-market operators. 7) More budget cuts and more layoffs.
Jimmy Steal
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Jimmy Steal, VP/Programming, Emmis Communications and PD,
Power 106, Los Angeles
• The biggest challenges will be understanding, creating and deploying brand relevant experiences across all platforms in real time. In other words don’t interrupt what people are talking about, become what people are talking about. I think someone at Leo Burnett Worldwide said that and it is pretty prolific. With the instantaneous pushing out of timely engaging digital content around the clock we now have the “always on” opportunity to become even more vital to our audiences no matter where they are, no matter what device they are exposed to our content, and no matter what time of the day or night they’d like to consume it.
• I think a lot of the “me too” clone stations will not make the cut. The need is for unique personalities creating compelling differentiated content every day. This is a learned skill, and for those of us in radio currently charged with building digital companies inside the confines of our analog companies, the challenges are steep, but so are the rewards! If you are a company or individual who’s not excited about this huge opportunity please get out of the way for those of us who are and inventing the future of our medium. NextRadio by Emmis anyone?
• Social represents both the marketing arm and community forum aspects of our brands. This capability/realization gives us a robust opportunity to interact and entertain our audiences like never before. We now know, on a more granular level than ever, when, where, why and how often our audiences are engaging with each of our platforms and our brands. The company that unlocks this data and designs their brands from the outside in as totally customer centric will find themselves achieving all their company goals in the process.
• Radio has to be persistent in finding new ways to make their brands, and market their brands, in cool and coveted ways. Great radio stations have a distinct advantage over IP delivered generic playlist services. Radio has the talent, the technology, and the time to activate our user bases insuring radio its healthy perch in tomorrow’s entertainment ecosystem. Our fate is up to us…and that is such a great thing! As VC billionaire Peter Thiel has said, “It is better to risk boldness than triviality” and he goes on to encourage us to think like a start-up because “A start-up is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future.”
On this note here’s to a happy, healthy and innovative 2015 for all! With a special shout-out to our Emmis crews for making 2014 such a success and such a pleasure!
Pat Paxton
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Pat Paxton, President of Programming, Entercom
• In many ways we are our own worst enemy. Some of us buy into the PR hype coming from pure plays and other competitors. Some of us buy into the systematic smearing of our industry, when all the numbers prove otherwise. We need to collectively shout from the top of the mountain about how relevant, how engrained, and how huge we really are. The numbers are what they are. The vast majority of Americans (90+%) consume us every single week. That can’t be touched by any of our competitors.
• Regarding the product being good enough, in many cases the answer is absolutely, and in some cases the answer is no. It’s all about quality, focus, engagement, and speaking to your target audience and their lifestyle. If you do that, you will win, no matter what the competitive landscape looks like.
• Any medium that can be used to further the relationship between your brand and personalities, and your listeners, should be exploited to its fullest. Social media offers a fantastic opportunity to do this.
• I believe radio revenue will be impressive in 2015. There are a number of good signs in Q1 and beyond. It will continue to take hard work, dedication and tremendous brands that deliver results, but I think advertisers are slowly coming around to include radio in the conversation more often. But, no one company can do this alone. It has to be an industry effort. Entercom can’t do it alone. Neither can iHeartMedia, Cumulus, CBS or any other single company. If we, as an industry, continue to educate and inform decision makers, 2015 could be a banner year for all of us.
Rick Cummings
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Rick Cummings, President Programming, Emmis Communications
• I think our greatest challenge remains our perception “out there.” We’re like air or water…only missed when done without! That poor perception “comes with the territory” largely. We’re a hundred years old! We are old news. I believe the industry at all levels needs to unlock some new value that can, over time, mitigate the “old news” perceptions. Probably not one thing: it’s distribution (NextRadio, for example) brings portability, once a driving force in our medium, back for the first time in a generation. It’s new breakthrough talent relevant to this and future generations. It’s doing all the things we do so well across multiple platforms.
• I believe no one curates music anywhere close to the way radio programmers do it (though everyone thinks they can it seems); few in media, and certainly no one in new media, tap the emotions of local communities like radio does. So yes, I think we can play on the same field(s) for a long time. I do think we need to respond competitively. Take spot loads. Increasingly, consumers expect an interactive, visual experience when it comes to audio consumption, and they expect it without 12 or 14 minutes of commercials every hour.
• We believe social media platforms can be an incredibly powerful tool to engage in very personal ways with our fans
• We’ll both still be here! Technology has impacted our respective industries in good ways and not so good ways. I think that’s our normal now.
Rick Vaughn
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Rick Vaughn, VaughnTarget.com, (Radio Brand and Talent Management)
• Biggest challenges radio will confront in 2015:
In order to address the first issue, one must assume that radio will indeed confront the challenges. Radio’s biggest challenge is long-term focus. Sure, time spent listening (time spent engaged) and relevance are glaringly obvious answers, but when you take a step back and ask WHY we have TSL and relevance challenges I find it is because we suffer from myopia. Daily decisions that should be made with the future consumer relationship in mind are being made with the company “right now” mindset.
We get that radio is a business and it’s not always going to be unicorns shitting rainbows. Hard decisions need to be made and sometimes those decisions are not awesome for consumers or critics. The challenge is to always consider how these difficult decisions will impact us in years instead of months, and then decide if the short-term benefit truly outweighs potential long-term negative impact.
Exhibit A and decidedly over-simplified: Do we really think that our listeners in Atlanta want or need THREE outlets playing Classic Hip-Hop? We can sit around and discuss why a battle like this ultimately makes for better product and better choices, but to the people who consume radio we look dumb. We look like we are just continuing to take people’s choices away while other options like Internet radio and satellite continue to create more. Long-term, this short-sighted move is damaging.
Exhibit B: We are not cultivating the next generation of talent. So much has been said about this for so many years that it is painful and probably not necessary to take the time to write it – again. Look at us now. We struggle to find jocks and programmers for vacancies. Internship programs and overnight shifts went away in early short-sighted moves that we now pay for.
I’ll spare the “exhibit” outline from here on. We continue to remove creative people from the entertainment process and wonder why our products lack creativity. Then we hire non-creative people to travel around and yell “BE CREATIVE!” to big conference rooms sparsely filled with employees who have no time or staff to be creative with.
We must not punish the public for debts they don’t carry. We operate public airwaves and what is best for business is not always what is best for the public. Ultimately, we will be punished for this and it is the public who will hang us. Forget the FCC.
No, I am not taking a shot at Clear Channel. Say what you want about iHeart Media, but no one has done more to fight for the future than the former Evil Empire. Noted, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to pay for sins of the past. iHeart has done the industry several long-term favors at their own financial expense. The massive marketing of iHeart Radio with televised events and vast programming has helped radio. It isn’t called “iHeart Clear Channel.” Radio as an industry should be thankful. Clear Channel (iHeart Media) has also invested millions into projects that truly have the listener, and radio’s relationship with them, in focus. Simple things like new music premieres are highly valuable to listeners and no one has done a better job of highlighting something so core to what people appreciate and use us for than Clear Channel. I guess what I am saying is that Clear Channel has its iHeart in the right place despite the fact that it still makes short-sighted decisions like everyone else.
Where was I really? Oh right…the biggest challenges. Our biggest challenge comes from our self. It’s easy to blame iPods, iPhones, wifi, and attention spans and whatever, but we have fought off new challengers in the past. We will win with our long-term focus on the listener, not a short-term focus on our own needs.
• Is radio’s product good enough:
It depends on which radio you are talking about. I think the radio like iHeart radio, Pandora and some satellite is very good and being enjoyed by the people we want (need) to enjoy it. I think our terrestrial outlets need more care. Terrestrial radio is still the face of our industry whether you like it or not. Ignoring our brick and mortar is a bad idea. Perception may be reality, but let’s not discount reality. People listen to the radio more than they think they do and most importantly they hold us accountable for what comes out of the traditional speakers. The buck still stops with the AM/FM dial. Invest in it.
• Social media platforms:
Honestly, we need to put less crap on the social platforms and raise the bar much higher. Contrary to physics, the more we throw at the wall the less will stick. We need to aircheck our social content and when it is consistently good we can monetize it.
• Bold predictions:
We have been on an unprecedented run of great music! I predict CHR will continue to enjoy a strong cycle, and as long as we cross company boundaries to work together, we can sustain this run much longer. New arrivals like Royal Blood and perennials like Foo Fighters will elevate Rock. Royal Blood will make a run at crossing over and win a Grammy. The music industry will see a third year of decline in digital music sales as streaming services grow, but the number of million-sellers (albums and tracks) will remain consistent or even up.
Radio via radio waves will face more competitors via the other waves. The number of competitors we have on the FM dial will not change. If we operate with the assumption that we won’t be around in 5 years, it is likely that we won’t bearound in 5 years. Let’s take great care of our listeners in 2015.
Pat Welsh
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Pat Welsh, SVP Digital Content, Pollack Media Group
• The digital dashboard is a big threat. Until recently, digital dashboards meant a way to put your phone’s audio through the built-in sound system. Now, cars audio systems are coming out with Spotify, Pandora and Sirius on deck. And some manufacturers are threatening to remove the AM band to make room for the new platforms. Additionally, auto makers are working with the technology companies to build better, more integrated systems. The dashboard has become the latest Apple-Google battleground. Instead of proprietary systems, the car companies are joining forces with the two titans of technology and building on top of the Apple CarPlay or Google Auto platforms.
• For the most part, I believe radio’s product is good enough. But that won’t stop time spent listening from eroding. Thereare two areas that concern me. First, is the high spotload vis-a-vis digital music services. The big gap in commercial loads between terrestrial radio and Pandora or Spotify hands the digital services a big point of differentiation. Radio’s going to have to get creative to fill corporate dictates for higher revenue while not driving listeners away with excessive spot-loads. The second problem – or potential problem – is seeing the different ways that people use terrestrial radio and the digital competition and programming accordingly. Listeners view terrestrial music radio as hit-based, by definition. Regardless of genre, if it’s on the radio; it’s a hit. This point is reinforced by the PPM’s emphasis on big cumes. Terrestrial radio stations have to programmed, unapologetically as hit machines, the last bastions of mass appeal media access.
• Social media is a requirement, not an enhancement. Social media is where people have conversations. All demos, especially the younger ones, have a different expectation of media in the digital age. They expect to get what they want, when they want it. They also expect to be able to give feedback to a brand and to be heard. There’s no such thing as a busy signal on social media. Listeners can always “Get through.” One of the challenges that radio has had is that since industry veterans (on-air and off) haven’t grown up with social media, many stations have been tentative with using these services. It’s not just being hesitant about using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram et al, it’s been how they were used. Users expect to be heard and to get feedback when they reach out.
In addition to just becoming more nimble with interacting, stations can increase their value by integrating clients into their conversations. Some are getting creative about having a photo contest with a client via Instagram. That’s a way to build the additional revenue that corporate demands, while engaging listeners in a new medium in a new way.
• Bold predictions…Radio – Howard Stern will announce his return to terrestrial radio in the middle of the year, a few months before his Sirius deal expires.
Music – Windowing will become a bigger trend. More artists will favorably compare themselves to Taylor Swift and hold back their new releases from digital music services for the first few months in a futile attempt to boost their own sales. In fact, at least one major label will consider demanding a three month window for every new release.
Fred Jacobs
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Fred Jacobs, Jacobs Media
• It’s about identifying the digital channels and avenues that are appropriate – brand by brand – and then devising strategies so that broadcasters can create content in those spaces and monetize it. As we have been saying for severalyears as we watch our Techsurvey results roll out, radio brands aren’t just competing with one another for ratings and revenue, they’re competing with everyone. Acknowledging the expanded landscape and building in systems that allow for cherish innovation would be a great way to celebrate the New Year.
• Radio needs to conduct an industry-wide S.W.O.T. analysis to make the determination. Some brands and some stationsare in a much better position than others to win the content wars. The industry needs to expand its research capabilities to see the broader competitive challenges, and then respond to them.
• Radio needs to come to grips with what social can and cannot do. Because Facebook, Twitter, and others are technically “free,” many businesses (including radio) have assumed it’s easy and is simply a playground on which to make money. As social media companies go public, the challenges are becoming clearer. To succeed socially, brands need to reflect consumers, respecting that all social platforms are different.
• I cannot predict for the music industry. But for radio, I am hopeful that Nielsen’s efforts to merge broadcast and digital usage will be successful, allowing for radio operators to truly benefit from its expanded channels.
Bob Quick
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Bob Quick, Quick Radio Consulting
• Competition for the listener’s ears from all sides increases every day. Everything in the listener’s lives is competition for radio. From traditional media like TV and Newspaper, to new media like Pandora and Spotify…and don’t forget to include surfing the net, online videos, Netflix, and the normal everyday distractions like the kids, work/school, and a plain old phone call. It’s more important than ever to make every break a silver bullet and be super focused on your P1’s with “not to miss” content. Remember, unlike TV that can be TiVo’ed, we are “live” and if our content doesn’t DEMAND that listener’s carve out time to listen in their day they most certainly won’t. Even if that time is outside your on-air shift and with a podcast. We MUST invest in our content, meaning our people, NOW or go the way of the Dodo bird. And although this has been said for going on 15 years now, we’ve reached the point where talking about the problem and doing nothing has doomed us. But I do believe there is still time for us to save us from ourselves.
• Currently the vast majority of content isn’t good enough, but if we do invest in our product we MUST be where the listeners are, not the other way around. Online, mobile, on-air and promoting that listeners can find us there…and not just on our air but on outside media and in social media. If I owned stations, I’d be advertising my best talent on Pandora. Why not? They are just a jukebox, promote our strength that they can’t compete with.
• Radio has always been able to engage the listener. It’s in our blood. But with social media, talent MUST understand that it’s in their job description, as well as their best interests, to engage the listener outside of the 3 or 4 hours they are on the air. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, they are all tools for talent to build the bond with the listener. And for the most part, we’ve been missing the mark. Look at Ryan Seacrest, he engages his fans multiple times a day though social media. I understand he has a staff to help, but the same engagement can be achieved by a properly motivated talent.
• I believe one of the big radio companies will fail in 2015. I hope it doesn’t happen because, like it or not, they are the PR drivers for the industry…and unfortunately if that happens, we’ll all take the black eye in the press from the folks hoping that we fail. IE TV, Newspaper, Pandora, Sirius/XM etc. As far as the music industry goes, outside of phenomenons like Taylor Swift, music sales will continue to fall. Millennials won’t pay for music, they have gotten it for free their entire lives, there’s no going back when there is no perceived value to the product. My 8 year-old son doesn’t have anything that is designed to just play music. We had stereos, Walkmans, cassette and record players. They were all designed for the consumption of music. He gets on his tablet and searches YouTube for his favorite songs, which by the way, he hears first on the radio. And without any prompting from me, he DOES have a favorite station. So, there is still hope for us.
John Mayer
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John Mayer, PD, WRVW/Nashville
•The biggest challenge is competing with growing technology. The tweens who live on their phones are growing quickly into key demos and it will be important for radio to keep up with them and continue to evolve with the way their lives continue to change.
• I like to think of myself as a perfectionist, and to that point I believe there is always something we can improve with respect to our product. However, with that said, I think given the advancements of the iHeartRadio app and the multiple ways that jocks can reach an audience on the spur of a moment we can continue to see growth in new listeners and stronger brands.
• I believe we have just begun to tap the potential that social media can have on radio. I think we will see an increase of video’s going into next year. Endorsements might include 15 second Instagram videos. Jocks can use vlogs from the studio to talk about their favorite products. The potential with just that one app is endless.
• I feel we are entering into what might be the best year yet for radio. Music is evolving, with more emphasis than ever on the single and not the album. This is allowing more new artists to break into the radio world and succeed. Who is going to be the new Hozier, Magic or Nico & Vinz? I think this gives hope to both industries. If a radio station can own a new artist with a new hit song that station is automatically looked at as being cool by old and new listeners. That in turn will create sales for labels. The old barriers of a song not being a fit for Top 40 or thinking that a slow song will only succeed in the winter … those days are gone. The hard part is going to be cherry picking the right new artists with the right new songs. At the end though, the payoff will be huge.
Brad Holtz
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Brad Holtz, PD, WTTS/Indianapolis
• As has been the case the past several years, the challenge will remain our industry’s ability to provide unique, compelling content, set against the backdrop of stagnant spot revenue and corporate mandates to further cut costs. Moving content to digital platforms and developing meaningful revenue in this area remains an ongoing story I’m sure we’ll be discussing for the foreseeable future.
• Good radio is good radio, and there’s plenty of good radio happening. This type of radio should be applauded, spotlighted and emulated. My fear, though, is that radio’s knee-jerk fear of PPM measurement is stifling our ability to truly take risks and develop unique content. “Competing in the vast multi-media arena” requires an ability to invest the time and effort in identifying and developing talent. Unfortunately, many of the opportunities that once opened doors for us no longer exist today. However possible, radio must find and foster the talent that will draw new attention to our brands (attention in earsand dollars).
• Given the ever-changing nature of social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, radio would be wise to invest more time and attention in databases we actually control. While we must have a strong presence in the aforementioned (by extending the on-air conversation to a social community), we are sitting on a potential goldmine with an active group of listeners who want to give us their opinion and integrate themselves into our stations. Permission/relationship/database marketing, whatever you call it, presents the best “social network platform” opportunity to radio today.
• Stations that can develop strong local, direct relationships outside the constraints of the traditional agency/cost-per-point model will be best positioned to endure another year of decreased transactional business. Those relationships will best be fostered by a station’s innate ability to know, serve and ultimately entertain their audience. Radio is a beautiful thing. It’s a reflection of life, of humanity. If it’s simply relegated to “jukebox” status, offering nothing unique or intriguing, TSL will continue to erode and spot business will continue to shed a percent or two each quarter. But I’m optimistic a “renaissance” period will soon take place; a period where smart operators make commitments to discovering talent and investing in products, sellers cultivate meaningful relationships with clients who care more about results than rankers, and the crippling fear of the meter is simply forgotten.
[eQB Content By Fred Deane]
