Radio ga ga
Tue 28th Jul 2009
A new study just released by AccuStream iMedia Research reports that in 2008, total listening to Internet radio was up 37.6% over the previous year. For those of us who are deeply involved with Internet radio this comes as no surprise. The study also shows that in-stream advertising revenue also continued to grow at unprecedented rates. If you read the radio trade press every day like I do, you see a constant litany of doom and gloom from market after market and group after group.
In an article posted in RBR 3/4/09 Jennifer Lane of Audio4cast.com talks about how this study can be used to define the listening universe, there are several things that I take from the synopsis of this report.
The radio business has changed, there is no going back. Remember when you used to play albums on-the-air; try to even find a turntable in a radio station today. Your audience has more choices than ever for their audio and video entertainment, they want the music they want to hear, when they want to hear it. They want compelling content. That’s what radio is best at delivering.
If you are running a radio station, let your people create the content that they know your listeners want to hear. If you are a 50 something GM, talk to your kids and their friends about why they don’t listen to the radio the way you did when you were their age. If you are a 30 something PD, you probably know what the GM’s kids are telling him. Why not create a stream that plays new music by undiscovered artists, let your audience interact with the talent that puts the channel together. Don’t tell this audience what you want them to hear, let them tell you. Interact with them.
If your air-talent doesn’t have blogs on your station web site, have them start. Have them Twitter, set-up a Facebook page get involved with the audience and the community you serve. In this age of Internet radio, what makes your classic rock station any better than the hundreds of other classic rock station on the web, compelling local content is the answer. I’ve loved radio since I was a teen and got my first job after school at a local station. I still think it’s a wonderful business.
Radio is not over, it’s just different. To be successful today, you need to think and act differently.