Two completely unrelated stories caught my attention this week.  Here is a quote from each story:

Story #1: “Nature doesn’t like a vacuum.  If there is space to put a planet there, there will be a planet there.”  Astronomer Staphane Udry

Story #2: “As long as people are told they can’t access content and information, there will be a collective effort to access that data.  Some will obviously try harder than others, and that’s why there will be a need for tunneling services to get to that content.”  Michelle Warren of MW Research and Consulting

First of all…”tunneling”!  What a great term for consumers creating their own path to content they desire, even when it’s content not readily available to them.   (Read More)

It’s curious that while increasing numbers of people are sampling Internet Radio that it hasn’t garnered sufficient Time Spent Listening (TSL) to threaten terrestrial radio.  What’s wrong with this picture?

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I couldn’t let Taylor on Radio-Info’s lead story today pass without comment.  The headline was “Shut up and play the hits?  Is radio over-reacting to PPM’s supposed “love of music”?  Based on how most radio companies are reacting to PPM, the headline could have been “Surgeon General finds that many radio companies are addicted to PPM; shorter life spans expected.”

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There is a slow but steady slippage in weekly Cume Ratings.  While radio rightfully touts itself as a reach (or Cume) medium, we shouldn’t be complacent about weekly Cume Ratings levels slipping from 95.3% in Arbitron’s Fall 1998 figures to 92% in the most recent RADAR study.  The younger demos are cause for particular concern.

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It should come as no surprise to anyone today that we live in crazy economic times!  Who knows what will happen next?  The day GM files for bankruptcy, the Dow goes up over 221 points! As of this writing, it is still over 8,500, but you can’t help but cringe wondering what will cause it to drastically dive again.  It’s great to read from Dan Mason and others that radio inventories are beginning to tighten up.  Maybe we’ve seen the bottom of radio’s recession, but then again, who knows?  Who thought that after 36 years, R&R would close up shop?

One thing does seem to be certain in this world of uncertainty.  The experts agree that the broadcast business model for both radio and television will change in the future.  New media technology and a refocus on localism will play major roles in the future financial success of traditional broadcast operations.  That was my major takeaway from the recent “Winning Media Strategies” seminar presented by BIA.  (Read More)