7-22-13
The folks at Townsquare likes to operate below the radar, but there?s no hiding the fact that after only three short years, the company is now 3rd in number of stations owned, with 242, and, per BIA/Kelsey, was ninth in billing in 2012, with nearly $190 million. Continuing his yearly climb up Radio Ink's 40 Most Powerful People in Radio list, Townsquare CEO Steven Price moves from 16th to number 9, after another year of activity growing the company. Price says Townsquare?s story, in its 51 small and medium markets, is live and local for audiences, while for advertisers, the story is to help them grow their businesses. Here's more about one of our biggest movers on the list, Townsquare Media.
Oaktree Capital is the money behind Price?s vision of a media and entertainment company with radio, digital, and live event properties. Most recently, Townsquare purchased the digital assets of AOL Music and ComicsAlliance and Price says everyone understands the vision. ?Townsquare has been focusing on continuing to build out our product offering and audience experiences within radio and across complementary platforms, integrating the Townsquare Media story into our business practices and culture, and sharing the Townsquare Media story externally with our advertiser and agency partners. We are focusing on creating what we call the ?Townsquare experience,? which is rooted in radio?s strength as a community engagement and activation medium. We attract desirable and scaled audiences through original and live and local content, we get them to lean in and participate with our content, and we motivate them to do something, whether it?s creating a relationship with a favorite on-air personality and following them across platforms or taking advantage of an advertiser?s product or service.
Price believes that getting the radio message out is key to the success of the industry. ?Radio delivers an exciting and needed product to consumers,? he says. ?It is local entertainment, supported by local brands, with human personality and community engagement. It is not a homogenized jukebox. In my view, the industry?s challenges have been less about the reality of our consumer offering and more about the perception of our medium. With that said, I do believe that the radio industry has been telling a much better story recently, both on the local and national levels, and that story is resonating with marketers, advertisers, and consumers alike.?
But telling a better radio story is only one piece of the puzzle, according to the Townsquare CEO. "Telling a bigger media story should be our focus as an industry. We need to stop talking about what we have and talk about what we do. And what we do best is drive demand for our advertisers? businesses and services. This is bigger than a radio story, bigger than a media story, and bigger than a marketing story. This is an advertiser success and survival story. Radio works! We all have to redefine the business we are in. If we focus on our share of the radio advertising pie, none of us will be successful. If we focus on driving successful client outcomes and becoming a flexible, trusted, and indispensable business partner, then we will open up expanded revenue streams for our clients, ourselves, and our category.?
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