Dave Beasing
It’s been a while since we caught up with Jacobs Media consultant Dave Beasing. With that said, we were drawn to talk with him after reading through The Bedroom Project, an ethnographic study released last year by Arbitron and Jacobs Media that observed young Americans interacting with technology and media in their natural habitats – their homes, dorm rooms, cars and, yes, their bedrooms. It’s quite a fascinating study in which the depth can only be truly grasped by taking the time to watch the interviews that were conducted. Beasing himself has been a player in the Modern Rock world, working with some of the most prominent and up-and-coming stations in the format. His viewpoint is always on display through his Buzz From Beasing column. We decided it was time to get Dave on the phone and throw some questions his way.
The Bedroom Project released by Jacobs Media and Arbitron last year was a defining look at how 17-28 year-olds use and view technology. There were definitely a lot of big picture items for radio on a corporate level, but what do you feel were some of the key points individual radio stations should takeaway?
The beauty of an ethnographic study is that everyone can make their own observations by watching the video clips at www.thebedroomstudy.com. The biggest takeaway is to be topical. You’re competing with every station online from everywhere. Your music may be important, but it’s not unique. Only you can offer the unique take on current events and Pop culture that your local personalities do. That being said, you’re going to need strong people who have something to say.
One of the items of particular note that was driven home is how attached this group is to their cell phones. Is radio doing enough to reach this demo through this device?
We must have distribution there. As an industry, that’s a bigger priority than HD or any other initiative. In the meantime, stations are innovating with lots of ways to include cell phones in their content. And please, don’t think narrowly that this is just a new way to contest. Instead, think of this as a way to crowd-source your content. Invite postings of instant photos and video or skim through texts for a great punch line. KPNT in St. Louis has texters choose the next song on the morning show. The possibilities are endless.
What do you feel is radio’s biggest strength as it leverages itself in the competitive multi-media landscape?
We have a reach that’s the envy of all. Then again, so did Barnes & Noble, but they let Amazonbecome the biggest online source for books. The clock is ticking.
PPM has shown early on that the much maligned Rock formats actually do have worth. Early response by Clear Channel has seen the launch of Alternative stations in Philadelphia, Hartford and Columbus that are Pop based. Do you see a difference between these stations and your “Neo Radio” experiments in San Diego and Seattle?
From the start, Neo Radio was about giving listeners some of the interactivity that new media provides. Look up old interviews with Fred Jacobs or me, and that’s how we defined it. Unfortunately, programmers jumped to the conclusion that Neo Radio was about the specific music or imaging on some of the first stations. If I may say so, we were ahead of our time with Neo Radio. Now, just about every station is giving listeners new ways to get involved at the grassroots level.
As a follow up, a station you work with, WSWD/Cincinnati was a success story in 2007. What’s the secret sauce that made this station and the aforementioned stations successful?
I’m proud that 94.9 The Sound was the first to sign on of the stations you mention. And the adult demos are huge. The Sound is built by Cincinnati, for Cincinnati. As a medium, radio has an image of being corporately-controlled, managed from the top down. Gee, I wonder why. But Bonnevillereally believes local radio should be local. They’ve hired living, breathing deejays to play the music and interact with the audience, they’re promoting and marketing, and they’re doing great live radio.
Stations would love to build big websites, but the budget and manpower doesn’t seem to be there. What affordable solutions do you recommend?
YouTube has around 13-million unique visitors a month, but they only have about 100 employees, who create almost no original content. Have listeners comment about local concerts, music and Pop culture. Link other great sites. And rethink your staffing needs. If you’re filling the same positions with the same skill sets as you did five years ago, does that make sense?
What are your thoughts on the chart game and “most added” in today’s climate?
Although stations use, “It’s down in spins,” as an excuse to drop songs they were never really committed to anyway, that’s all it is, an excuse. As a measure of a song’s potential and exposure, charts are now useless. They will either evolve to somehow include gross impressions beyond radio — exposure in TV programming or commercials or videogames and online, for example — or they’ll die, please.
What is your view on what the relationship between radio and record labels should be?
Essentially, it’s unchanged. We are partners in creating great content. The difference is the content is now far more than hit singles, or than simply audio. Just as the labels met the demand for videos when MTV came along, smart music marketers are meeting the demand for a full range of interactive, on-demand content.
I’ve heard, and I’m sure you have too, record reps say, “I always know when Dave has visited a station, because they suddenly play more Gold.” Why is that?
Have you been talking to Danny Buch? (laughs) Actually, Jacobs’ clients are playing some great new music, and they’re exposing even more of it online. But it’s a reality that FM signals are, for now at least, not on-demand services. Gen-Y has grown up in a world where they don’t have to sit through anything they don’t like to get to something they do, so you have to be more selective than ever.
Do you see HD Radio as a viable entity? What are your thoughts on the initial ways radio is utilizing HD?
HD has potential to broaden the variety of radio, but it doesn’t offer any more listener control like DVR’s do for television. What’s truly offensive (and ineffective) is that the HD Radio Alliance‘s new ad campaign tries to reposition other radio as being outdated. HD Radio is radio. Their spots need to help build the medium, not destroy it.
** QB Content by Michael Parrish **
