Christian Disagrees With Liggins About Share Shift

8-11-13

The debate is on about why radio advertising is soft. Is the economy to blame? The winter weather? Is the money shifting to digital? Answering a question specifically about radio losing a share of business to digital, Saga CEO Ed Christian said he did not agree with what Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins said last week on his quarterly earnings call. Liggins said part of the issue with radio being soft in the second quarter could be "share shift," specifically, radio losing money to digital. "I really don't agree," Christian said. "I can appreciate Alfred's position and it's a nice way to say that somebody else has caused the problem. It's like the old saying, 'She made me hit her'."

There's a whole different world out there on what advertising and marketing is on the Internet, according to Christian. "There's a lot of misleading information about what's going on in digital. Is there money going there? Absolutely. Is it fresh money? Does it create brands? I ask anyone to tell me, other than the name of a company like Yahoo, what was created as a result of Internet advertising? Who is the poster child for how it's done right, to launch your brand, soley using the Internet or social media. Most people on social media don't want to talk to a brand. They don't want to talk to brand people." Christian said as an adjunct professor he learned that the only thing that would get people to change brands was if they got something for free. And he added, the only thing that has really been successful on the Internet is search engines, calling them "the I-Tunes of the Internet."

(8/12/2014 5:47:30 PM)
While Bob Hoffman has nailed it, the onus is still on radio to significantly upgrade its own advertising messaging - and all by its own damn se'f - while waiting for the digi-phase/trend/fad-thingie to start breaking down in any useful or time-sensitive way.

This isn't one of those deals where radio is going to win by default - right after advertisers "see the light".

(8/12/2014 1:16:21 PM)
Ed mentioned Bob Hoffman in his call yesterday so I reached out to Bob to get a link to his video. You shuld all check it out, especially if you think Digital is winning the day. You may be surprised. By the way Bob is keynoting the Radio Show next month. I'd be interested to read your comments after you view it...and I hope none of you are sensitive to harsh language. Here's the link to his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyTn_DgfcFE&feature=youtu.be
(8/12/2014 1:10:24 PM)
What he said is 100% correct. There is a lot of "Emperors New Clothes" going on with Digital (read Roy Williams this week) as Pepsi and their 5% loss in market share learned. Technology changes quickly but people change slowly and the tech only acerbates existing tendencies. Most of what people consider "digital" is just print on an electronic platform and as such, people process it the same way (ie. ignore it unless they are in the market). You can't brand without electronic media.
(8/12/2014 12:44:03 PM)
Say, Ed (the ed.), can I take on the winner...? That is, so long as they both go the full 15 rounds first.
(8/12/2014 12:38:09 PM)
If you guys can set it up, we'd be happy to facilitate that debate, record it and play it back for our readers to hear.

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Attorney: "We had 48K Listeners." Ustream Disagrees.

10-1-2012

A few days after breaking ties with TRN, Michael Savage was broadcasting live on UStream. Today, his attorney wants everyone to be clear about how many listeners tuned in to that surprise event. Savage turned up on UStream at about 8 p.m. ET Sunday night. He hinted that big announcements may be coming. "I've been on the radio 18 years and that may or may not continue. I'm out there in the wilderness right now, where I want to be." Savage broadcast for about one hour.

Savage's attorney, Daniel Horowitz, who did not return several telephone calls over the past two days, believes Savage had 48,000 people listening and took issue with our original story. Fair enough. At the time we posted the story about Savage, the UStream website indicated Savage had approximately 5,000 "current views" with "total views" in the tens of thousands. The 5,000 listeners we originally reported certainly was not the final number Savage would end up with. It was much more than that.

But while Savage's attorney claims his client had 48,000 views, the final UStream total lists that count at 45,560. Savage's UStream broadcast was bolstered by a top headline posted by Matt Drudge on Sunday night.

As a result of our original story, Savage's attorney sent the attached threat of legal action to Radio Ink. In no way were we attempting to indicate that Savage is less popular than he is. He even told his UStream crowd of thousands on Sunday night that if he had the proper distribution he could beat Rush Limbaugh. Rush might have something to say about that. In 2013, Limbaugh will celebrate 25 years on the air, most of those years as the most listened to talk show host in America.

Radio Ink would like to wish Mr. Savage the best of luck wherever he lands in the future.

(10/1/2012 8:51:55 PM)
Michael, You're already NUMBER ONE!!!! Get back on the airwaves and STAY NUMBER ONE! Cheers.

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