2-19-2015
On Wednesday, legendary WMMS Program Director John Gorman announced his new local streaming venture in Cleveland, oWOW. On first look and first listen, there is something uniquely different about this streaming venture. oWOW sounds like, and has the feel of, a radio station, not just another streaming startup. Radio Ink talked with John Gorman at length on Thursday about his new streaming venture, listen to Part 1 below.
Gorman doesn't pull any punches in describing his streaming startup, he begins our conversation not about the format of oWOW, but about why he believes this new business venture will succeed. Because of consolidation and the huge debt that saddles so many broadcasters, Gorman thinks his streaming venture is well suited for success in Cleveland. Gorman speaks at length about the disadvantages terrestrial radio endures, and he believes those disadvantages can be turned to his advantage at oWOW.
No one ever accused Gorman of not having an opinion, and he doesn't hold back in the Radio Ink interview. Squarely in his sights: voice tracking, consolidation, debt, the lack of competition among broadcasters, and he's got his sights set on taking a share of the Cleveland radio advertising budget. Gorman says that his sales folks will be hitting the streets and working hard to take accounts away from local radio. But Gorman notes that oWOW will not be saddled with huge spot loads, because, as he put it, he doesn't have to. His budget is smaller and he's not bogged down with debt, network spots, and trade.
Gorman spends most of the first part of our interview, not discussing oWOW programming, but discussing how the streamer will be focusing on its business. Budweiser is already on their account list and Gorman is targeting focused and unique campaigns for its advertisers, not volume. Gorman also covers how he raised the money for oWOW, his investors, why his dayparts are different from terrestrial, how he plans on delivering a more unique product than either Pandora or Spotify, and much more. Listen to Part 1 of our exclusive interview below:
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