
07 Oct Wednesday, October 2, 2019
This Week in The Lund Letter:
> Radio Show keynote speaker
> Entertainment, uniqueness and compelling content
> Hot button promotion for women
> Where’s the beef alternative… and other Trends
Lund Radio Show Report: Has Radio’s Time Passed?
The NAB Radio Show last week in Dallas was on fire with technologies (new and revived) and methods for radio’s progress in the digital age.
There was one keynote speaker from outside of our industry who said the curtain had come down on radio. This Russian-born American entrepreneur runs a social media digital agency in New York. He forecasts the end of radio. Is he aware that 92% of adults still listen to radio every week? That number hasn’t changed much in decades.
His implication that radio is obsolete reveals that he doesn’t know why radio has survived and why listeners and advertisers continue to utilize our medium. Radio remains an important – if not essential – content provider for local news, weather, companionship, personality, and music. Radio’s growth, of course, is dependent upon presenting content on all platforms. “Radio” has morphed into “audio” which is heard on the internet, streaming, mobile apps, Alexa, Tune-In, Radio.com, i-Heart.com, apps for content on demand, podcasts, ATSC 3.0, and much more, while we continue to personally connect with listeners.
This entrepreneur said that audio is winning, not radio, because of all the devices that bring us audio. We can agree with the latter with the caveat that radio is a mainstay of that audio content. Audio is on the rise because people today need to multi-task. They cannot do that with video or other forms of media.
What’s important is how content is delivered – whether streaming, podcasting, or the internet. The transmitter is one application. Content is king, not the mode of delivery. Haven’t we heard that before? Facebook and YouTube are competitors; in fact, other digital vehicles are competitors to our distribution of audio.
The future of radio is about our personal connection and how we produce the most compelling content to grow and retain audience. There is now a myriad of digital opportunities to move that content from our studios to our listeners.
Thus, the digital highway is just that, a multitude of paths to enlarge our audience, our ratings, and our revenue. Radio is local and universal. How we optimize our content is part of the topics we discuss in the Lund Letter and further develop and assist our “audio” clients.
Constructive Discontent
Can your station sound better? If you’re not satisfied with the format or execution, the Lund team can provide you a cost-efficient evaluation of your station. We take these steps to derive your best plan of action:
> Music: We review your music library, clocks and rotations within your music software, and we conduct a music audit of key competitors.
> Talent Coaching: We aircheck your talents and produce coaching reviews. These focus on format, music, talent performance, energy, formatics, imaging, and station “uniqueness” (Stationality).
> Action Plan: You receive a comprehensive report, executive summary and Plan of Action.
This Lund Strategic Programming Evaluation provides you with a detailed road map to increased audience. Contact John Lund for more info!