Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Even The FCC Sees Radio's New Direction...

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski must have been looking at the latest Arbitron/Edison Infinite Dial study when he acknowledged the need for radio to go "online and mobile." In his address, delivered at the NAB convention, Genachowski made sure to dot his i's, cross his t's and get a prerequisite amount of "multi-platforms", "core-goals", "multimedia journalists" and "initiatives" in. He even channeled Wayne Gretzky. "As I heard one broadcaster say: Wayne Gretzky goes where the puck is going, we need to go where the audience is going: online and mobile." A good one for Sarah Palin to use for her hockey moms. Acknowledging the necessity for being online and mobile was not an 'A-ha' moment for 99.9% of the NAB audience, but at least we know the FCC is on board...

Speaking of the Arbitron/Edison Infinite Dial study, the most telling results were Broadband Internet access and Online radio usage which came in with 64% and 52% respectively. Other significant findings include one in four Internet radio listeners surveyed are "very interested" in having access to Internet radio in their cars. When asked if they would listen if an FM radio tuner was built into their cell phones, 41% of those surveyed between 12 and 24 would listen to FM radio more often. While 70 million Americans listened to online radio in the past month, four out of five surveyed would be disappointed if their favorite radio station went off the air...

Although I poked fun at the FCC Chairman and his agency, at least this administration, as governmentally correct as they are, seem to be making an effort to recognize the changes that are necessary in order for radio to survive. Many of the previous administrations either didn't care or didn't have a clue...

10 Timeline Memories:

1.1865] A bad day at the theater: President Abraham Lincoln is shot and mortally wounded by actor John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington (DC). He will die of his wounds the following day...
2.1894] Pass the popcorn: The first public showing of Edison's kinetoscope aka 'moving pictures' is held...
3.1902] The money man: James Cash Penney opens his first retail store, The Golden Rule Store in Kemmerer (WY). The name will be changed to J.C. Penney...
4.1910] Play ball: President William Howard Taft throws out the 1st ball for the Washington Senators-Philadelphia A's game in Washington (DC) and a tradition is born...1955] Elston Howard becomes the Yankees first black player...1969] The first major league game is played in Canada (Montreal)...
5.1912] Down with the ship: The Titanic, on its maiden voyage, hits an iceberg and begins to sink. It will fully sink at 2:27 a.m. on April 15th. More than 700 survive but 1,517 lose their lives...
6.1939] Sour grapes: John Steinbeck publishes "The Grapes of Wrath"...
7.1956] Get out the splicing bars: Ampex Corporation demonstrates the first commercial magnetic tape recorder for sound and picture...
8.2003] Gotcha: U.S. commandos in Baghdad capture Abul Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked Achille Lauro in 1985...
9.2003] A Tikrit to ride: Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit falls to U.S. led forces with unexpectedly light resistance...
10.2008] Wedding Bells: Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., announce they are combining...

Music Memories:

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Adrien Brody (37), Anthony Michael Hall (42), Brad Garrett (50), Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore (65), Pete Rose (69), Julie Christie (69), Frank Serpico (74) and Loretta Lynn (75)...

Timeline Countdown: 8 days until the NFL draft, 17 days until the Kentucky Derby, 25 days until Mother's Day and 47 days until Memorial Day...




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