Having trouble understanding something...

[Kenny Atkinson]

I was listening to the "I heart radio" aka canned crap on B101 and the afternoon guy was talking about downloading an app. to your Iphone to listen to the music they play.Why would you promote another medium when you need the support on your local station so people hear the ads and support the local stations.I know you can listen to fm radio on some Cell phones now but this sounded like it was another source all together.

Please help me understand this..

 

[Holland Cooke]

"Radio" isn't just AM/FM any more.

It's like promoting the station's online streaming.
Listeners are "going there" anyway, so steer 'em to YOUR place "there."
These other media are the station's only hope of going-where-there-isn't-a-radio.

You raise an important point about will-the-ads-be-there.
Having-to-cover-up on-air-spots-that-can't-run-online is a HUGE pain-in-the-beeehind for stations.
VERY few stations do this smoothly, as you'll hear online.
And it shouldn't be stations' problem at all.
Ad agencies which produce the-ads-stations-can't-stream are too cheap to pay the pertinent talent fees.
So they let it be stations' problem.
This hardly serves the advertisers' interest.

Stations -- especially music stations -- NEED to be on iPhone, since it's its users' music appliance.
And, if you've seen iPhone, you realize that it's quickly becoming their everything-else appliance.
The other night, I interviewed an electronics expert, and he said there are over 60,000 iPhone apps...and more every day.
GET THIS: One caller was AN APP DEVELOPER.
He says that when he sells Apple an app that costs the user 99 cents, Apple keeps 29 cents, and he keeps the rest.
Do the math.

Whether it's iPhone or making-the-station's-web-site more-than-just-a-brochure-about-the-station, stations MUST "go there," because;

1. Radio has such powerful "incumbency." There are gazillions of receivers, and generations of people using 'em, albeit less lately, since they have so many other choices. What-we-used-to-call "a station" is really "a branded content creator." And a PILE of research demonstrates that NO other medium drives Internet traffic better than radio. Good thing, because...

2. Radio is "leaking." Cutback-after-cutback has lessened-the-appeal-of radio programming...JUST AS iPod, satellite radio, Internet, etc. came-along, and gave listeners control.

Most stations still treat their Internet assets as an adjunct to the transmitter, instead of as-the-transmitter.

In 1995, when we were starting to hear "dot com," I was trying to get radio stations excited about building-a-web-site. I even registered a domain name for one of 'em, wpro.com. They let it expire. Since then, that name has had several owners. A company in Equador had it, then I believe it went to the World Professional Racquetball Organization, and now a cyber-squatter in California is sitting on it.

That's just one example. Back then, when I'd try to get a GM excited about the Internet, he/she would worry "What if we end-up chasing our listeners there?"

Now, it's all-they-can-do TO chase their listeners there.

 

[Kenny Atkinson]

You hit on something that I have been meaning to ask. Why cant spots run on the internet stream if it's carbon copy so to speak?For example You can see commercials of a TV on Cable.TV being under control of the FCC and cable under the PUC.The TV signal with cable is turned into a fiber optic signal like the computer to get it to your TV.Not sure about satelite.I would think its same thing or is it because its considered a re-broadcast and thats why they(TV stations) have to give permission or demand the cable company carry them.I am surprised wwith the digatel age now with for ex 13.1,13.2,13.3.The FCC doesnt force cable companies to air anything that a local TV station is airing even if its 50 stations under its umbrella.Get what I'm saying.

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE You hit on something that I have been meaning to ask.

You hit on something that I have been meaning to ask. Why cant spots run on the internet stream if it's carbon copy so to speak?

Talent fees.

Remember that TV writers' strike a couple years ago?
The new contract that resulted broke new ground regarding payment for non-on-air use, i.e., Internet streaming, etc.

Similarly, AFTRA, the talent union, has also negotiated payment for ancillary use.
The announcer on the Geico spot gets extra money if the radio station streams.
His work is being used another way.

But the agency that produced the spot only paid him for on-air performance.
So the station is stuck with paying-him-for-anything-else, because the agency didn't bother.

So the station has to cover-up the spot online.
Which, as you've heard, sounds sloppy.
And, if I'm Geico, I didn't get "the whole station."

 

[McRadio]

Stations finding ways to meet the needs or desires of those listening to music elsewhere is a good thing. What's bad is when large companies call the shots here and it results in standardization of programming. You'll hear the same thing from Alaska to Florida. There's no effort in improving the programming, not to mention loss of localization which we've talked to death. These are business decisions and those making them are not programming geniuses. What Clear Channel is doing is likened to McDonald's coming into a small town and opening a restaurant every three blocks. Does it improve the product? No! But when you want a burger chances are you'll end up at McDonald's because there's always one close by. Clear Channel is making this programming available even if you're not listening to the radio but the programming itself is the same old-same old.

Also, something to chew on. If the public is using alternate ways to get their music then what's the deal with stations still afraid to go deeper with the music? Doesn't the desire to seek out music anywhere and everywhere point to the fact that the only people who would go out of their way to listen to Clear Channel music on a phone are the ones still stuck on traditional radio listening habits? Are they really going to jump through hoops to get their music? The ones abandoning radio are the ones who want to listen on everything from a phone to a toaster oven and they don't want the limited playlists.

The concept is good but so far stations are just going through the motions like they do everything else. They do it to say they're doing it.

 

[Holland Cooke]

This USED to make radio exciting.

If the public is using alternate ways to get their music then what's the deal with stations still afraid to go deeper with the music?

YAH-mon.
Remember when radio stations COMPETED to break new songs?
They'd boast about it!

Fearful-that-another-station-would-aircheck-us-and-play-the-song, we'd occasionally drop-a-voice-over a-song-we-got-first saying "WPRO...EXCLUSIVE!"

Next time you're in Starbucks, grab this week's free song card.
There's a new one every Tuesday, right there at the cash register.
It's a free iTunes download.

TAKE THAT, record labels!
In this innovative deal, Starbucks = distribution and promotion, so new acts get exposed.
iTunes gives you a reward for coming in every week.

When I download these songs into my iTunes, I edit the category, and tag 'em all "Starbucks." So when I want to hear not-just-the-same-old-same-old, I can listen to THAT category...and it really is a-breath-of-fresh-air. Probably not what you're expecting to hear from a consultant...

This week, 42 million Americans will hear Internet radio.
That’s 17% of the 12+ USA population; up from 13% last year. 61% are 25-54. according to the recent, and 17th, Arbitron/Edison Internet study: “The Infinite Dial 2009: Radio’s Digital Platforms AM/FM, Online, Satellite, HD Radio and Podcasting.” (http://getonthenet.com/ArbEd-InfiniteDial2009.pdf, see page 12, apropos the point McRadio makes.)

Some headlines:
• “Americans’ consumption of [all] media is higher than it’s every been.”
• 85% of Americans have Internet access; 82% of USA homes have broadband.
• 69 million Americans (1-in-4) listened to online radio in the last month. A year ago it was 17%, 42 million.
• Key growth demo is 35-54; 61% are 25-54; they’re “upscale, well-educated, and employed.”
• “Variety” and “control” are top reasons for listening to online radio (“audio you cannot get elsewhere”).
• Most learn about online radio from AM/FM radio (32%); 28% hear about it from friend or family member.
• “Online radio is the soundtrack to e-commerce.” 47% listen while researching products/services; 33% while shopping online.
• 1-in-3 wants online radio in-car.
• 42% own a portable MP3 player (1/3 a year ago), “growth in every demo except 65+.”
• Online radio listeners more likely to have purchased digital audio online.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[jeffryan]

Re: "Radio" isn't just AM/FM any more.

Most stations still treat their Internet assets as an adjunct to the transmitter, instead of as-the-transmitter.

This is an important point. People like Jerry DelColliano have been saying this for a long time, and it's so true. The key to keeping people engaged in radio is not in how it is delivered to the audience. Ok, sure - people have migrated to the internet, so you do have to have a presence there. But what good is it to regurgitate the same programming through a new channel? How does that make someone want to keep listening?

The key is in content - radio needs to deliver new and fresh content. Lots of it and as often as possible. The internet opens the possibility of having MANY stations all with different content available. The possibilities are so amazing, that it's almost criminal to squander a station's internet stream on what's already available on the air.

• 1-in-3 wants online radio in-car.

And soon 3 in 3 will have it available to them.

Radio CEOs need to understand that the medium is changing and fast. When you have streaming audio available in the car, the only thing radio will have left is the branding that stations have built up over the years. It will be the only thing that separates a traditional radio station from someone running a podcast or stream out of their basement. The barriers to entry are pretty non-existant now, but wait until this happens - there won't be ANY barriers left to break down. Branding will be very important, and smart owners are strengthing it right now before all hell breaks loose.

 

[Moonstruck]

But no stations around here are really utilizing the web for anything more than what they broadcast. I can see podcasts of some morning shows as if you're a real fan and miss something you might want to check it out but just using the web for the same programming that's on the air is useless. Anyone going to the web for programming or music wants something different in the first place. Again we have people just going through the motions and some now consider branding to be unimportant with PPM down the line.