Anybody remember the Bush/Clinton election?

It shouldn’t have been close. George Bush Sr. was coming off a massive victory in the Gulf War. But the economy was in recession. The Bush strategy was to ignore it – sort of pretend it didn’t exist.

But voters vote with their wallets, and Democratic strategist James Carville observed, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

While Clinton talked big ideas, Bush confessed that he was never very good at “The Vision Thing.” We all know how this ended.

The similarities between that election and the current state of commercial radio are striking, if you simply tweak the phrase to “It’s the content, stupid.” (Read More)

Can we talk about personnel?

A lot of people, including us, like to talk about how radio must reinvent itself.  There are numerous strategies and even more tactics, but “the human element” is most critical to The New Radio Model.

To reinvent radio with a new business model, does radio have the people?  And I’m not just talking about the minions and worker-bees here, it starts at the top.

Bankers and equity players will often tell you that “we bet on the team.”  So as groups tumble toward bankruptcy, the conventional wisdom is to stick with that management team.  The thinking goes that most groups’ problems are primarily the result of the economy.

Not so fast.  If when the economy recovers, the media landscape will be changed forever. There will be no “getting back to normal.”

(Read More)

HD can happen – if Big Radio wants it to happen.

At least that’s my take after visiting the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

I’ve been following the rollout of digital platforms for almost ten years now– from the time Europe started developing their various strategies through the days that NPR developed Tomorrow Radio, what today is called HD Radio.

While I’ve always been enamored with the concept, the rollout has repeatedly stubbed its collective toe.

Several issues have hurt badly. Among them, the HD Radio Alliance, which is something of a cartel of commercial broadcasters, made some initial poor decisions. First, in a direct nod to satellite radio (and to their own Achilles heel), they promised that there would be no commercials to start. This was hardly the incentive that GMs needed to get excited about HD prospects. No revenue, no investment. Second, they divvied up the formats so there would be no competition. Again, hardly incentive for any broadcast professional to actually innovate – no threat, no investment.

And then there are those commercials. Yes, they are confusing. But our own research and focus grouping do show increased awareness of something called HD Radio. It’s a start. However, far too many people, even those who have heard of it, have any idea of what it is.

Beyond all that, there were early receivers that weren’t ready for prime time from a performance or price standpoint. And there are the relatively weak signals that struggle when it comes to building penetration. And let’s not forget those who threw in the towel Day One on the premise that Wi-Fi in the car was just around the corner.

But despite the all these negatives, for the first time this year at the CES, I thought, “This thing just might happen.” (Read More)