Making Radio Stronger In A Disaster
WSJ Profiles Radio Thanks To Bob Pittman
10-14-2012
Radio executives often talk about speaking with one voice to move the medium forward. As time marches on, that voice is consistently the voice of Bob Pittman. Pittman is pro-radio 100 percent of the time. Every organization wants to hear him speak. He's always prepared with charts and graphs about how consumers love radio. And he attracts the attention of big advertisers just because he's Bob Pittman. On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal's Merissa Marr wrote a lengthy article about Pittman entitled, "Pittman Envisions New Life for Radio." The article says Pittman's goal is to to reinvent radio, a business many have left for dead.
PITTMAN IS THE CO-CHAIR OF RADIO INK'S FORECAST 13
Marr writes, "Pittman has been plotting a revival rooted in trying to make radio cool again and convincing marketers that radio deserves more than the 6% share of total ad spending it currently commands (television attracts around 50%). A marketer at heart, Mr. Pittman sees his challenge as shaking off radio's fusty image and winning back advertisers who left for other media. He argues that, contrary to popular belief, listeners never deserted radio. According to Arbitron, weekly listening has grown in the past decade to 242 million people from 224 million."
The Journal article states reviving radio is a challenge unlike anything else Bob Pittman has taken on. "Whereas his involvement with both MTV and AOL occurred when they were fresh and new, radio is one of the oldest of old media. Its future was bleak even before the Internet and satellite radio came along, but now traditional radio faces an array of digital competitors in streaming music services, from Pandora to Spotify."
Pittman has been touring the country, according to Marr, "talking up radio and schmoozing advertisers with a series of 'show business' events. He recently co-hosted a cocktail party for advertisers with consulting firm Medialink, featuring a performance by Stevie Nicks. Plotting a promotional blitz for its digital site iHeartRadio, Mr. Pittman splurged on a two-day concert to showcase 'the power we have'."
Read the Wall Street Journal article HERE (subscription required)
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(10/15/2012 11:25:01 PM) Bingo, Phil; add to that that personality radio with intelligent curation by talent that has something to offer. |
| - Willie Green |
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(10/15/2012 7:28:18 PM) Maybe it's the northern climes that I enjoy and maybe it's the fresh water. But I fail to appreciate how a guy who is in charge of a company with a greater debt than some small countries can make claims about progress when his entire organization is bent on destroying audience and advertiser-services. Is Radio really that hard up for heroes? |
| - Ronald T. Robinson |
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(10/15/2012 4:03:13 PM) Sometime we get so caught up in the progress and success of a competitor that we minimize our own relevance. It happens. Radio has never been irrelevant and it isn't now. The threat is there in its obvious forms, but the end is not literally here or near. My only question is, how are we defining cool today--relative to the business of media? |
| - Larry |
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