6-30-14
At last week?s board meeting Bruce Dumont says he stepped down as Chairman of the National Radio Hall of Fame Steering Committee. He then appointed new board member Kraig Kitchin as Chairman and named naming Dennis Green and Karole White as Vice Chairs of the Committee. Dumont said he will remain an Ex officio member of the Committee?and can now actually vote - and looks forward to participating in future deliberations.
6-30-14
That's up, according to the FCC, from 5.8 percent in 2011. The details come from a report released Friday by the Commission regarding the FCC's 2014 quadrennial review on broadcast ownership. That 6.7 percent number represents 383 FM stations, compared to 323 two years ago. Men own over 4,200 FM's or 74 percent of the total 5,714 commercial FM stations. 143 stations are jointly owned.
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6-30-14
Minorities now own 3 percent of the commercial FMs now on the air according to the FCC, that translates to 169 FM stations for 2013, down from 196 stations in 2011. Of the 169 minority-owned stations in 2013, 38 stations were in a top 100 Arbitron metro market, 54 stations were in Arbitron metro markets 101-274, and 77 stations were outside of all Arbitron metro markets. Whites owned 4,570 stations (80.0 percent) in 2013 and 4,467 stations (79.6 percent) in 2011.
6-26-14
The two companies have launched a new weekly show featuring the top emerging and breakout songs based on YouTube data of the previous week and selected by SiriusXM for the Hits 1 audience. It's called "The YouTube 15" and it will air each week starting July 11 on Fridays at 6 p.m. ET on SiriusXM Hits 1. YouTube creator Jenna Marbles will host the show. Marbles has more than 13 million subscribers on her YouTube channel and her videos have been viewed more than 1.5 billion times. She just uploaded her 200th video to her YouTube channel, youtube.com/jennamarbles, which is updated each Wednesday.
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6-25-14
Another hearing on Capitol Hill about performance royalties turned into another bad day for radio. Two weeks ago, during the first House Judiciary Committee hearing, there was a lot of ganging up on radio, with nobody present to defend the radio industry. Today there was also a lot of ganging up on radio, with Charles Warfield and Ed Christian there to respond on radio's behalf, but they really didn't get to say much. At one point Warfield even said, "We haven't had a chance to say a lot, but a lot has been said about us."
One Congressman was about to pose a question to Christian about why the existing model for radio should continue, why Congress should permit radio to build a business without having to pay artists. The problem was that the Congressman took all the allotted time to ask the question, and Christian was not allowed to respond. By the time Warfield and Christian did get a chance to speak, nobody was really buying what they were saying.
If all someone ever knew about performance royalties was what they saw in these two hearings, they might conclude that radio really is the bad guy in all of this. It was clear again Wednesday that not too many members of the House Judiciary Committee, or other players in the performance royalty issue, are buying radio's argument that radio provides mountains of promotion and marketing for artists and that's a fair trade-off for radio's playing their music for free. In fact, Roseanne Cash called it "insulting." She said, "I'm patted on the head and told it's promotional. It's good for you. They use my songs to sell ads and make billions of dollars. It's ludicrous and insulting."
Rep. Gerald Nadler of New York said he finds the argument of free airplay for free promotion "incredible." "All the arguments based on that are non-starters," he said. "It's not a balance, not a consideration. That should be the decision of the person being broadcast." Nadler compared the arrangement to a consumer's being able to walk into a store and decide the price of a product himself. SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe told the committee that artists are losing hundreds of millions of dollars here in the U.S. because radio is not paying to play artists' music.
After the hearing, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith told Radio Ink, ?Broadcasters couldn?t have been better represented at today?s hearing than by Charles Warfield on behalf of the NAB and Ed Christian on behalf of the RMLC. The fact that more than half of the House of Representatives supports local radio stations on the performance fee issue puts us in strong position to preserve broadcast radio?s mutually beneficial relationship with artists and record labels. On the digital side, NAB is committed to working with Congress and other stakeholders to create a vibrant business model that benefits artists, songwriters, and labels and encourages more radio stations to stream their programming.?
(6/27/2014 9:17:08 AM)
Re: "So explain to me again why we should pay THEM?"
1) Because all but 4 other countries in the world pay performance royalties.
2) Evidenced by short playlists, radio uses music to DRAW audience.
3) Following the money also leads to radio advertising sales revenue.
4) The new rules apply to all, and not necessarily on your terms.
5) This isn't "...the last fifty years..." anymore.
6) Radio's promotional value is diluted through multiple music sources - all of which pay.
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6-26-2014
To provide measurable ROI and a rewarding listener experience, a multimedia approach that creates a sophisticated and holistic radio ad campaign is the clear choice. Too often we see a fragmented (at best) approach, where what?s promoted on air is disconnected from what?s consumed online at your station?s website, sent through your texting platform, or featured in your station?s social media universe. Multimedia raises the bar for how to best use traditional radio in concert with the tools of the digital space.
Mobile marketing, podcasting, photo and video sharing, and opportunities for user-generated content ? when complemented by what is broadcast over the air ? can spread the word about your station?s brand and help build brand awareness for your clients in the most powerful ways. In short, you have greater market influence when you are associating with other brands. At the very least, your market acceptance is accelerated. Building an integrated campaign that is inclusive of the radio station brand and its ambassadors ? the on-air personalities ? is a formula for success.
Think about the multimedia approach and what it?s all about: empowering you to communicate your mass marketing messages to multiple devices on demand, and in a more personal way. Look at the evolution of mobile marketing. As smartphones have transformed from devices used to make calls into personal mobile computers, opportunities for engaging, highly targeted ad campaigns and other marketing breakthroughs have been born.
Let?s look at a good multimedia approach in action. When Budweiser Canada wanted to partner with radio to roll out a new product line, the Budweiser Shot, they were initially focused on being part of a live event and getting a favorable spot rate ? but had little interest in the value of the radio station?s digital assets, let alone getting all those ingredients to work together to create a recipe for success.
But the station sold them on the power of a multimedia partnership integrating the Budweiser brand on the station website while leveraging the station?s on-air presence, texting, database marketing, and social media spaces to drive engagement.
Budweiser was heavily integrated into an event microsite built by the station, featuring a Bud Shot Tour Bus register-to-win opportunity. The station?s listeners visited the portal to register to win VIP tickets, hospitality (food, drinks, and swag), and an overnight stay at the event?s location on board the Budweiser Tour Bus, courtesy of Budweiser. The brand received repeat exposure as listeners got info on the band lineup and location, viewed photos and videos, and opted into the station?s text club for event updates, which included additional opportunities to enter the Bud Shot Tour Bus contest.
The program was cleverly woven throughout the station?s website, mentioned in on-air personalities? blogs, teased in the station?s newsletter, tweeted, and posted ? all of it synergistic with the spot schedule running on the air. This approach won the station the lion?s share of the business, and no campaign elements were given away as ?added value.?
Radio?s real value and opportunity lies in demonstrating how the traditional broadcast space can embrace technology to make for a more enjoyable experience for your audience. Using a multimedia approach, where an experience is co-authored by the station and its clients, creates a better opportunity for a meaningful exchange and brand conversation with the listeners. Offering more one-to-one conversations through multimedia eliminates the traditional barriers between the station, its advertisers, and the people who listen. More access, more content, and more control yields better results and provides a more personalized experience.
For your next campaign, think about using all the tools in your station?s toolbox in a collaborative effort to build a meaningful marketing campaign. Here are some good questions to ask: Are all of your elements working together? Does your on-air content drive traffic to your website? Does your website serve up great content and make it clear what the listener/visitor can expect? Is it engaging? Does your texting platform reinforce and amplify what?s heard on-air and viewed online?
Jeffrey ?J.Love? Karlov has an extensive background in radio broadcasting, marketing, and sales across multiple media platforms, including digital media. In his current role as senior sales engineer for Marketron Interactive, he helps stations accelerate digital revenues and optimize listener engagement using Marketron?s technology. Reach him at jlove@marketron.com.
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6-26-14
The FCC nails Birach Broadcasting in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, with a fine of $12,000 for failing to enclose WWCS-AM?s two antenna structures in with effective locked fences. Although Birach was aware the fences were in a state of disrepair, it failed to confirm repairs were completed, which the Commission says "resulted in unrestricted public access to the antenna structures for an extended period of time. The damaged fences presented a particular public safety concern because the antenna structures were located in a residential neighborhood. The Enforcement Bureau previously proposed penalties against Birach for fencing violations on two separate occasions. As a result, "a significant increase to our normal penalties" was imposed. Read the full NAL HERE