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August 20, 2007
Is Radio Dead?
Media guru and blogger Shelly Palmer on his Media 3.0 website posted a blog entry titled “When Will Radio Die?” in which he elaborated on the challenges the terrestrial radio industry faces. In keeping with his advertising background, the headline was much more provocative than the body of his blog and was misleading. Palmer did not predict the demise of terrestrial radio, but merely listed its many challenges.
Palmer also listed terrestrial radio’s strengths for the near-term future: simplicity, ubiquity, and inertia. But he left out a big near-term strength, localism. Recently, Jack Myers interviewed CBS Radio’s new CEO, Dan Mason on JackMyers.com. Myers, who does some of the best interviewing in the media, talked to Mason who said, “Every radio station can become a TV station.” “Radio is the most powerful local medium there is,” Mason elaborated. “It has the ability to call people to action with a swiftness no other medium can claim. Announcers can reach out and touch people. Too often, the personality aspects of radio get lost. WCBS-FM is a station that blatantly and passionately was a part of New York City. That’s what radio needs to do in every market.”
Hooray for Mason! It’s about time a corporate radio executive got it right and reversed the all-vanilla corporate radio (all dumb, all the time) that Mason’s predecessors at CBS Radio instituted and that Clear Channel perfected. Clear Channel is selling off most of its radio stations because, as a top industry consultant told me, “Clear Channel couldn’t organize a two-car funeral procession.”
As I wrote in a blog last year, the corporate radio format, Jack FM, that failed at WCBS-FM before Mason switched it back to its oldies format, was a real turkey. Any format that wanted to appeal to adults and featured “No Underwear Tuesdays” and no announcers was doomed in New York. I’m listening to WCBS-FM’s live webcast as I’m writing this and it sounds great—like it did when Herb McCord switched it from the taped “Love Sounds” automated format in 1968 to all-hit radio and when Nancy Widman ran it as an oldies station in the late 1980s. At one time WCBS-FM was number-one In New York in the 25-54 demo.
Mason predicts that with the ability to do webcasts and webisodes, radio stations can become TV stations—at least on the Web. I think this is a stretch, but if terrestrial radio emphasizes local content and is fun to listen to, it will continue to survive and be profitable.
What about satellite radio? I don’t think the FCC will approve the merger between Sirius and XM Satellite Radio despite Mel Karmazin’s, Sirius’ CEO, attempts to placate the FCC. Too much bad blood there. The Republican-dominated FCC has been overly concerned with indecency in the past four years, so why would it enable Howard Stern and XM’s and Sirius’ X-rated comedy channels to continue, especially now that Internet radio is available on table-top receivers.
The NY Times’ David Pogue wrote a column on August 9, titled “Internet Radio Made Easier,” that gave details about Internet radio receivers that use Wi-Fi technology to make the hundred of thousands of Internet radio websites, such as Pandora.com, easier to use by not tying them down to a computer. Internet radio makes everyone a broadcaster and provides listeners with virtually an infinite variety of programming, and it’s free—no $12.95 a month subscription fees. Who needs satellite radio now?
Radio is still the Rodney Dangerfield of the media. No one coming out of college wants to work in radio. No one ever goes into Best Buy and asks to buy a radio set. No media buyer ever wants to plan or buy radio. But if you’re in your car and want to listen to the Who or the Stones or a baseball game or want the traffic and weather, you listen to terrestrial radio.
Radio isn’t dead, it’s just breathing a little heavy, like me riding my bicycle to the yacht club, and I’m not quite 100 years old like radio is. Radio will be around for awhile, getting little respect, but surviving.
Posted by Charles Warner at August 20, 2007 06:22 AM
Comments
Vince Thompson ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mediacurmudgeon.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 20, 2007 11:50 PM writes:
Right on Charlie! This isn't about stick value it's about Brand value. Local stations who are authentic and trusted in their communities will make easy transitions onto the new delivery platforms because their audiences will want them. Those stations who haven't created the value will have a much tougher time. For great local brands the future is amazingly bright. Yes..radio can become TV and print and local stations can even serve as guides for local marketers when it comes to investing in online advertising. Who knows the client, context and community better?
Media Curmudgeon at August 20, 2007 02:55 PM writes:
Dan Laub writes:
"A few thoughts....
If, like politics, all radio is local, then maybe terrestrial broadcasting has some life but I agree with Shelly: it might be time to call the clergy to deliver last rites.
The only time I listen to terrestrial radio is when I'm driving the car that doesn't have satellite. We're XM subscribers and with a new wireless audio streaming system setup in my house (called Sonos...check it out at www.sonos.com, the best home electronics purchase I've ever made), I can listen to XM in 4 different rooms simultaneously without having to get up off the couch or go to the computer. With this home wireless setup, I also have the luxury of tapping into my vast collection of mp3's that sit on my hard drive which until recently, had no other use other than my iPod. There is also a wide variety of internet radio stations ready to stream at a moment's notice which I love, all at above average digital quality.
Interestingly, I now listen to more music than ever before prior to my Sonos purchase. My point here is that as technology becomes more affordable and more advanced, terrestrial radio will have to proactively compete with these new competitive realities to stay relevant. If certain favorite local stations streamed their signal at higher bit rates which improves the digital quality, I might consider adding them to my Favorite Stations section on my Sonos Controller but until then, I'm afraid the locals have lost me.
Daniel
P.S. I did tune into the FAN last night on my way home from upstate for the Giants' pre-season game. Once XM and Sirius complete the merger, I won't need the FAN any longer. ;)"
Media Curmudgeon at August 20, 2007 02:51 PM writes:
Chris Warner writes:
"For me, the big change is iTunes online radio. In Woods Hole, MA, where I live, radio reception is poor, but online, reception is crisp. We listen to WEEI-AM in Boston online (reception poor here), except when the Red Sox are on, because WEEI online doesn't carry the Sox, so no Sox at work."
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