8-2-13
That was the question from Wells Fargo analyst Marcy Ryvicker yesterday during the Clear Channel earnings call. One of the major differences between Pandora and iHeartRadio is Pandora runs ads during listener-created playlists, and iHeartRadio does not. Clear Channel doesn't cap listening, Pandora does -- and charges listeners for more. At least for now, it appears those revenue options are off the table at Clear Channel as they work on a bigger-picture sell. iHeartRadio now has 34 million registered users, an increase of 162% over the same quarter one year ago.
Taking Ryvicker's question was CEO Bob Pittman, who made a rare appearance on the company conference call. Pittman says iHeartRadio is a major part of the digital offerings at CCME and is experiencing double-digit revenue growth. He says the way they are selling the platform is by getting getting an assignment from advertisers, not a buy. It's the new way to sell.
Pittman says iHeartRadio is the fasting-growing segment at CCME, with double digit revenue growth. "The way you think about the monetization is, yes, we'll sell in-stream spots, yes, we'll sell display ads, but it's also iHeartRadio, it's the station websites, it's the broadcast stations, events, promotions, and traffic. And as much as we can, we're trying to build them into multi-platform offerings for advertisers, so we're not talking about a bunch of spots, we're talking to advertisers about how to achieve goals. We have all of these assets to help them achieve their goals. That's the new way people sell. You get an assignment, not a buy. It's been happening in other sectors besides radio, and now we're bringing that kind of sophistication to radio."
iHeartRadio?s total listening hours were up 36% in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the second quarter of 2012. Mobile represented 61% of iHeartRadio total listening hours during the quarter. The company also added ?Talk? to the platform, featuring on-demand, listener-created talk content side-by-side with popular talk, business, celebrity, comedy, sports, and entertainment episodes from leading national and local personalities and top-rated programming partners such as The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Univision, American Public Media, Bloomberg, as well as a two-way content partnership with ABC.
iHeartRadio is integrated into the dashboard of 38 current automobile models of Ford and Toyota brands, with more planned announcements over the next year.
Recently, the second annual iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party was held at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. It was hosted by LL Cool J, Jason Derulo, and Miley Cyrus and featured performances by Pitbull, Ke$ha, Afrojack, Icona Pop, and Krewella. Brands were integrated into 400,000 promotional spots that aired across Clear Channel radio stations during April and May, generating 240 million on-air impressions. Contest winners from 40 states attended the event, which was also broadcast live across 120 relevant-format Clear Channel stations and on iHeartRadio, streamed live through Yahoo! Music, and rebroadcast twice on the CW Network. Sponsors included Visit Florida, Pepsi, the CW Network, Fiat, and Bacardi. In total, the event generated over 530 million earned media impressions.
(8/2/2013 12:57:38 PM)
Since it isn't here, I wonder if "Bafflegab" is a major subject at American universities.
By the time radio corporations realize their priority is to improve audience and client-services, the online or satellite stuff may have rolled over terra-radio like a mutated moss on a stump in a humid swamp. And I'll be out on the boat - or under it.
Re: "...400,000 promotional spots that aired across Clear Channel radio stations during April and May, generating 240 million on-air impressions..."
With "34 million registered users" representing a 162% increase y-2-y, CC started with 21 million last year.
If Clear Channel put all that promotional power behind iHeartRadio, think of this: For Pandora, "Active listeners were 71.1 million at the end of June 2013, an increase of 30% from 54.5 million during the same time period last year." (http://bit.ly/13K4tuO) - that's "active users," and Pandora ran no radio commercials.
Why is Clear Channel bragging?
Pittman still did not answer the basic question!...That is, how does Clear Channel plan to make money from iHeart Radio?...He did not have an answer to that question. And with 17 billion dollars of Clear Channel debt and anemic increases in CC radio billings even in a rebounding economy...
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