Calling All Radio Leaders: Please Step Up NOW!
08:06:28 pm | Reinventing Radio | Mike Henry
Radio leadership needs a new forum, and quickly. While the news keeps flowing quickly on both sides of radio’s future…positive and negative…the leaders of our industry are strangely quiet. No offense to the NAB or the RAB, but radio leadership needs to come from…radio. Let’s revisit some of the issues from just the past week:
The Good
News: CBS to make all of their websites “hyper-local.”
My Take: Thank goodness. I’ve been preaching the hyper-local website gospel for two years now. This should go hand in hand with hyper-local radio station content and promotions. Remember that concept? It used to be called “radio” before the Telcom Act of 1996.
The Bad
News: Ad revenue in Philadelphia already drops due to PPM rollout.
My Take: No one saw this coming? Come on. A new ratings system BEGS for a new sales currency. We need to start the real work of creating the new sales currency and rolling it out to the ad buying community as an INDUSTRY.
The Ugly
News: Internet ad spending is on the verge of exceeding radio spending.
My Take: Again, no one saw this coming miles away? Radio’s lifeline to internet ad spending is absolutely in reach with the concept of hyper-local websites and hyper-local radio stations to promote them. See “The Good” above.
The Really Ugly
News: New iPods to play HD Radio stations.
My Take: Talk about marketing before the product is ready! Unless radio wakes up quickly to actually program HD Radio for an audience need, then putting HD Radio channels on the open market is the worst possible scenario for radio. Not only is the HD Radio content not ready for primetime…or even overnights, THERE IS NO BUSINESS MODEL (yet).
Radio company heads, both large and small, must assemble quickly to establish a new forum for radio leadership. Put aside competitiveness and call a meeting amongst yourselves, and invite your smaller-market group head cousins and include ethnic broadcasters. After you’ve done that and have a forum, bring in other vested parties such as the heads of the NAB and RAB and other industry organizations, national rep firms, researchers, consultants, whomever it takes. Build consensus by creating it. Make decisions. Set a path and communicate it as one.
Calling all radio group heads: The time for action is NOW.
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These guys are pretty darn short sighted aka blind despite their puffed up discovery of synergism. I rep a product/tool which allows the host (station) DAILY presence on the computer screens of opt-in listeners. Media rich (video, audio, text), free to the user, with NTR-full links; loads in the background; tracks how many views… I could go on and on. Number of execs I’ve contacted who have shown interest: zero.
At a convention session on out-of-the-box thinking, after the speakers, everyone in a very crowded room headed out the open door. I opened ANOTHER door and walked through. Pretty much the state of the art today as well.
bobwood | 09/10/07 09:55:54 pm
Your interpretation of “The Really Ugly” is not correct. The Polk audio player allows you to select HD Radio songs as you listen to them for later purchase and synching with an iPod. Apple has resisted putting a radio receiver in the iPod since its launch for the simple reason that the lack of the feature doesn’t appear to hurt iPod sales and including a receiver may, in fact, adversely affect Apple’s iTunes sales.
A couple of news items (including the Polk one you mention) seem indicate that Apple is evolving its strategy, however. I wrote about it on our website, but the essence is that they are embracing an “all media” tagging strategy, where no matter how or where you hear a song, you can easily mark it (tag it) for purchase via iTunes.
Jim Kerr | 09/11/07 09:01:55 am
Didja notice? It’s war. On September 11th, let’s remember what happened 6 years ago in New York. All of this technology is sneaking up on radio, and just like the guys (and women fighting the terrorists) we’re on the defensive. Where are the industry Generals? I guess it’s us. Unfortunately we’re not the ones being driven by Wall Street to find the next revenue (not audio or video) stream.
Maybe we can “dream” about how it should be.
The GOOD: All radio stations are live and local with well-paid PERSONALITIES with well-targeted programming aimed directly at their ideal listener. The talent gets all the tools needed, and there are great bonuses and profit sharing for those who help advance the plot. PD’s are well-connected with their local audience and they’re letting the LISTENERS decide the future direction of the station. Cume is up 20%. TSL has increased by 4 quarter hours each daypart. Commercials are well thought out, produced and very entertaining. There’s not ONE “Preparation H” commercial on the air.
The Bad: “Steve Jobs announced today that Apple is retiring every $600, $500 and $400 dollar electronic device due to lack of sales.”
The Ugly: “Google announces it is buying the FCC”.
davemasonsd | 09/11/07 05:58:27 pm