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Radio NAB'd

S

SirRoxalot

We should have seen it coming. At the NAB Radio Show in September, we had all those "corporate leaders" talking about how "content is king" and radio would have to "reinvest in talent".

The biggest proponent? Dan Mason, who revitalized CBS-FM with Classic Hits and classic talent doing good radio in the number 1 media market.

The echos barely died in Austin when the bloodbath began. LA, Dallas, Boston, SF, Phoenix, Portland, and now Tampa Bay and Charlotte. ENTIRE STAFFS cut in favor of VT & sin-dication. And that's just CBS - the biggest proponent of "compelling content".

[sarcasm]Thank goodness that we'll have more channels with HD radio. Heaven knows that we don't have enough pre-packaged pap on the airwaves now. I think that we should redistribute the entire electromagnetic spectrum to create even more channels for our broadcasting geniuses to program. I can hardly wait to see what our "industry leaders" have in store for us next.[/sarcasm]
 
I think Dan Mason has always had a passion for content and talent. Problem is, the bean counters pull the strings and if you don't please them, you go nowhere!
 
As one whose passion is creating good content, one wonders where we'll have a chance to do it. Consider XM just blew out some of the most creative PDs in the business and webcasting is getting hit with prospectively outlandish fees, and terrestrial can't afford to experiment.

Where do content people GO? I'm at a loss here.
 
The Internet offer opportunities for you to express your creativity. Here is a good example: http://www.combolandradio.com/

The day is upon us when the Internet will be available on your "home, your car, and your office" and offer you the opportunity, with minimal investment, to do your own thing. Do it right, and you might even make some money at it.
 
XTalker said:
The day is upon us when the Internet will be available on your "home, your car, and your office" and offer you the opportunity, with minimal investment, to do your own thing. Do it right, and you might even make some money at it.
Click to expand...

Wonderful. Give me examples of internet radio stations where they pay talent 6 figure salaries, with full staffs, doing original creative programming.

I can tell you that it will be a very long time before there's enough money in internet radio to pay for the kind of programming all you folks seem to want.

It will be a place for hobbyists to do their thing. The stations getting the largest audiences will be those that mimmick the terrestrial stations. That was the pattern in the 70s when FM became popular. Within ten years, all the commercialization and tight playlists that had strangled AM radio simply moved over to FM. Along with the listeners and the money.
 
pocket-radio said:
Pandora has 17 million members what radio clone playing 70's hits does that?
Click to expand...

Pandora is a national service. So they have 17 million compared to 230 million for terrestrial radio. How's that?
 
Pandora uses database and music analysts, not directors of music or programming.

Internet radio is under attack by SoundExchange, how are they going to pay us?
 
JimmyJames said:
Pandora uses database and music analysts, not directors of music or programming.

Internet radio is under attack by SoundExchange, how are they going to pay us?
Click to expand...

Webcasters are still negotiating. One step forward was the Webcaster Settlement Act, which allows more flexibility in settlements with webcasters.

Webcasting will be paid for the same way that radio stations pay for things - with advertising. In this case, it's usually visual advertising instead of audio ads - but that could change.

Blipverts, anyone?
 
That's ok, go ahead and ignore the Internet potential - you will be run over by it. Hobbyist today (many of them are professions doing it for fun now, like the Comboland site) - someone has to blaze the trail!

And, yes, one day they will be paying some big salaries.
 
XTalker said:
That's ok, go ahead and ignore the Internet potential - you will be run over by it. Hobbyist today (many of them are professions doing it for fun now, like the Comboland site) - someone has to blaze the trail!

And, yes, one day they will be paying some big salaries.
Click to expand...

No one's ignoring it. The issue is how to make money with it. Kurt Hanson has a story about it today, saying the royalty issue isn't the only problem.
 
That is what they said about radio back in the day. And remember when FM was in a closet and no one knew how to make money with it! Takes time, for sure.
 
TheBigA said:
XTalker said:
The day is upon us when the Internet will be available on your "home, your car, and your office" and offer you the opportunity, with minimal investment, to do your own thing. Do it right, and you might even make some money at it.
Click to expand...

Wonderful. Give me examples of internet radio stations where they pay talent 6 figure salaries, with full staffs, doing original creative programming.

I can tell you that it will be a very long time before there's enough money in internet radio to pay for the kind of programming all you folks seem to want.

It will be a place for hobbyists to do their thing. The stations getting the largest audiences will be those that mimmick the terrestrial stations. That was the pattern in the 70s when FM became popular. Within ten years, all the commercialization and tight playlists that had strangled AM radio simply moved over to FM. Along with the listeners and the money.
Click to expand...

There isn't any. Even if you're one of the big ones like .977 there still is barely enough money to pay 2 salaries, make sure you keep your day job if you work in internet radio. The only way however, that .977 got popular is Jeff merged twice with two different entities, stole their listeners and then found a legal way out where he got to keep all the money.... woohoo. I'm one of the victims of the 2nd merger.
 
XTalker said:
That is what they said about radio back in the day. And remember when FM was in a closet and no one knew how to make money with it! Takes time, for sure.
Click to expand...

It took over 27 years and an FCC decision mandating the end to larger market simulcasts for FM to begin it's 10-year road to parity with AM.
 
XTalker said:
What year was the no simulcast rule imposed?
Click to expand...

1967 was the year when the markets to which it applied had to comply, if I recall correctly.
 
When you have the world at your fingertips, I’m not sure why anyone would listen to radio on the internet, unless of course stations do more than simulcast. I’ll listen to Boston radio for nostalgia but that’s it. When listeners can listen to what they want when the want, I’d say top down programming is a thing of the past. Radio just doesn’t get social networking. Pandora, last.fm are good examples. And dream on they’re not going away anytime soon.
 
I guess my point about the Internet is that there is potential for rather eclectic formats to make it in this venue. First, it is nowhere as expensive to operate an internet station. Secondly, without coverage areas to be considered, the more eclectic formats can ultimately attract enough cume to be a viable advertising medium.

Today, there are a few real pioneers using the medium. There are hundreds of wannabe's using it, but there are a few who will blaze the trail for Internet Radio as a serious business. Don't count them out or ignore their efforts.
 
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