Readers React to Our "No Respect" Story

11-8-2012

Readers posted a lot of feedback on our story from Thursday about David Field's comments from the recent Wells Fargo Media Conference. When answering a question about whether radio was even relevant anymore, Field said there's "a lack of respect for what radio is and has accomplished" out there. Check out what the radio rank-and-file thinks about the respect radio should get.

Entercom CEO David Field got the hair on his back up a little bit yesterday when speaking at a Wells Fargo Media Conference yesterday. When answering a question about whether radio was relevant anymore, Field said there's "a lack of respect for what radio is and has accomplished" out there. "More people listen to radio than ever before. When you aggregate all the other listening of audio, it's still less than 10%. Radio is still over 90%. Go compare that to TV. They never have to answer about their relevance."

That question could have been prompted by what's turning out to be an anemic performance by most radio groups in the 3rd quarter of 2012. In a year political advertising spending - and easy comps from 2011 - should have given radio a boost, it has not. Political is coming in weaker than expected, their have been complaints about national and local has been sluggish. Saga reported a 19% decline in national for Q3. Clear channel revenue was up 3%. Cumulus declined 3.7%. Field reported a revenue increase of 2% to the street on October 26th. Back to yesterday's conference. Field said it's helpful to put the relevance question in context.

"Our product is not just a music service. I'm not denigrating the other services. We have companionship. We have local content. These are the reasons we've been able to stay successful. We are not giving up on distribution either. Wherever consumers want audio, we will be there." Entercom stations can be heard on TuneIn.

During his time on the stage yesterday, Field had a lot of praise for Clear Channel's industry leadership. He cited iHeartradio and in what Katz has been doing to market the industry. He emphasized the need for everyone in the radio industry to "leverage" the value of radio more than it has in the past.

(11/9/2012 3:25:48 PM)
I lost all respect when radio got involved in the iBiquity scam, trying to make a quick buck. Hopefully, the ad skipping will skip Struble's silly coupons and other glossy paint.
(11/9/2012 7:28:09 AM)
Lisa Adbuyer, it looks like a federal court judge in California has decided that Dish Hopper's spot skipping technology is constitutional - the decision is currently sealed, but the plaintiffs (amongst them, Fox TV) are none to happy). When SCOTUS rules Dish Hopper technology is legal, are still going to buy tv with the same fervor that you currently do?
(11/8/2012 4:00:37 PM)
"Respect ourselves", indeed.
First of all, let's do something worthy of respect rather than just having access to a pretty (potentially) whizzy medium.
(11/8/2012 2:23:40 PM)
For the moment, it remains the only ubiquitous audio medium. It may feature less sizzle and ego gratification than TV for clients and agencies, but repetition of an audio message is very effective, so radio plays a unique and important role in almost any smart, efficient media campaign.

In many markets it's easy to beat radio down because spots are a commodity and other audio media are growing... growing from zero, that is. And it's much easier to attract attention under that circumstance than to maintain the perception of stature in the face of periodic predictions of radio's demise, even after a century during which TV, CB, MTV, IPods, Pandora, and other phenomena du jour have had little effect.

Radio is what it is, and of that we can be proud.

(11/8/2012 2:02:23 PM)
Respect begins at home. We have to learn to respect ourselves first so we may command respect from buyers.
When we are willing and continue to aggresively fight for 7-8% amongst ourselves rather than unite and go after the rest of the $$ available we will continue to find ourselevs where we are.
I was told by a MAJOR National Brand Decision maker "you radio people: we give you an RFP with 10 Added Value items on the list. You bring us 9 things and feel like you got away with something and we were only hoping for one of those things".
Respect ourselves by training our sellers....... I am stunned by the lack of support and training for our front line people who are out there every day trying to bring it home with no support from management/ownership.
"Respect yourself" to quote The Staple singers.

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Dickey: "We Respect ESPN But They've Sort of Had it All to Themselves"

From integrating Citadel under the Cumulus umbrella ahead of schedule, to launching Mike Huckabee and Geraldo Rivera, to getting all his stations on iHeartradio, launching an all-sports network with Dan Mason must seem like just another day at the office for Lew Dickey. "We are a natural distribution partner for CBS," Dickey told Radio Ink last night. We are pleased to be doing this. This is a great boost for our network and our sports franchise." And, despite calling it a good product, Cumulus will phase out ESPN on all of its stations and incorporate the CBS Sports brand when all the elements are in place, many of which should be ready to go by the time all the radio brass gather in Dallas at the Radio Show in September. Read more from our conversation with Dickey last night.

Tell us about the discussions with CBS. Do you pick up the phone and call Dan Mason and say "Let's do this deal"?
Dickey: There were discussions at several levels, obviously. It is something they are very excited about. It is a strategic imperative for those guys as it was for us. It is just one of those deals where it just made a lot of sense for each company to leverage its respective assets to create this offering. Obviously, sports was one of our key focus content verticals. It is something that we wanted to leverage the power of our O&O group along with our distribution through our network. It made sense for us to seek a partner and do this. With their lineup, it is a key content focus of CBS, so with their lineup, it just made a lot of sense for us to do this.

You guys have a relationship with ESPN. How does this effect them?
Dickey: I think this has been a gradual evolution for ESPN to take all these functions in-house, and it just makes sense for them to do so. They are a big operation. They have a pretty deep bench. It just makes sense for those guys to be self-sufficient and to do this. This is something that has been in the making for a long time. This is just a natural evolution. With that being said, Cumulus was in the position of having a lot of sports stations and a great network of distribution of content and time sale, so it just made sense for us to seek a partner where we could create a competitive entrant. That's what we did with CBS.

What do you want GMs to know?
Dickey: I think ESPN is a fine product. I think we can put a very competitive product on the field. There is choice now. I think for the first time, there is going to be real choice for not only updates, but a 24-hour network, expert analysis, and features. There is going to be a legitimate competitive offering out there, to offer real choice. I think choice makes everybody better. I think the broadcasters will benefit from this. We have a lot of respect for ESPN and what they've done. I think they have sort of had it to themselves, and this is a real opportunity to offer real choice to both the broadcasters and the advertisers.

What are your thoughts on how big this business has become and how much bigger it can get?
Dickey: Sports, as you know, because of the immediacy, as a content vertical, sports is one of the most lucrative out there. Period. It is something that has been a big focus of ours. This enables us to take it to the next level. For the pioneers who launched those stations 25 years ago, it was a great deal of forward thinking. They are certainly being proven right by the dramatic demand of it by both listeners and advertisers. It is a great content vertical. I think it is great content for radio. We are big believers in spoken word at Cumulus, as you know. This is just another iteration of spoken word radio.

More Coverage of the deal:
The Baltimore Sun
Chicago Tribune
CRAIN'S

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