Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Radio Gets RAINed On In Washington...

Here in New York, we've been rained on plenty this week but the RAIN in Washington is soaking terrestrial radio. RAIN Summits are the premiere educational and networking events for internet radio. Following successful conferences in Toronto, Las Vegas and Minneapolis earlier this year, the NAB and RAB decided to RAIN on the Radio Show to teach terrestrial radio a thing or two about the enemy. We're hoping that radio is listening...

The Summit was kicked off on Monday by Keynote speaker Bruce Reese who told those assembled in Washington that streaming is promotional more than it is a revenue generator. Now for the good news! Yesterday we found out that streaming is underdeveloped. That insight provided by Coleman Insights which released findings from its "Successful Audio Streaming Strategies" study. Coleman says that consumers who use streaming audio "are not aware of the many streaming options available to them and have relatively shallow perceptions of the options they are aware of. Streaming audio is a brand category that remains highly underdeveloped." Hmmm, not such good news unless you can convince consumers that with your stream they need not look any further. According to the study, consumers who regularly use streaming audio can name on average, 1.6 streaming audio brands unaided, compared to the usual 6 or 7 brands for "mature" categories. The only brands that Coleman found with "meaningful" awareness levels were those offered by AM/FM radio and Pandora...

There was lots more information in the Coleman study with truckloads to come from other sources before the RAIN Summit ends and surely there will be usable tactics to be absorbed and enacted on by radio broadcasters in order to stay relevant in an ever changing digital world. Let's be real - there's only a finite amount of improvements that radio can make in order to survive. People like terrestrial radio for its local appeal, for the cheesy promotions it runs, for their "friends" who dispense the music, news, talk or sports and best of all for its price...

10 Timeline Memories:
1.1953] Premiered on this date: "Make Room For Daddy" starring Danny Thomas runs for 18 seasons...1960] "My Three Sons" starring Fred MacMurray runs for 12 seasons...
2.1954] Greatest catch: There have been better catches since but Willie Mays makes what's considered the greatest catch of all-time against Cleveland's Vic Wertz in game one of the World Series. The Giants not only win that game, they sweep the heavily-favored Indians in 4...
3.1957] Back to the Polo Grounds: The Giants play their last game in New York, losing to the Pirates 9-1 in front of 11,606 either crazy or diehard fans...
4.1974] The Beatle and The Professor: John Lennon sits in as a guest disc jockey on WNEW-FM. This clip from '74 is a MNF interview of John by Howard Cosell...
5.1976] It's time for a change: Tommy Lasorda replaces Walter Alston as Dodger manager. Alston was mgr. for 22 years, Lasorda rings up 20. Tommy talks about his playing days in this clip...
6.1978] 'Happy Trails': After serving barely over a month, Pope John Paul I is found dead of a heart attack. Some question whether or not the Pope was poisoned. The Pope was 66...
7.1982] Tainted Tylenol: Seven people die in Chicago after taking capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol that had been laced with cyanide. 264,000 bottles are recalled...
8.1986] Mom always liked you better: For the first time in baseball history 2 brothers (both rookies), pitch against each other in a game. Greg Maddux defeats brother Mike. Greg will waltz into the Hall of Fame while the closest Mike will get is by buying a ticket to get in...
9.1989] Vhat? I did not do that: Zsa Zsa Gabor is convicted of battery for slapping a Beverly Hills police officer who had pulled her and her Rolls-Royce over for expired plates. Latest update on Zsa Zsa is that she's out of the hospital and resting at home..
10.2005] Free as a bird: New York Times reporter Judith Miller is released from 85 days of federal detention after agreeing to testify in a criminal probe into the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity...

Music Memories:

Commentary: Microphone Technology and Multi-Dimensional Sound - A Symposium, will be presented by the Audio Engineering Society New York Section on Saturday, October 16, 2010. The symposium will be hosted by Agnieszka Roginska & Jim Anderson of NYU. Co-hosting will be James G. Williamson, AES Chair. At 8:30am there will be a 'meet & greet' followed by presentations at 9. For additional information go to the AES website here...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Jill ("Love Boat") Whelan (44), Andrew "Dice" Clay (53), Bryant Gumble (62), Lech Walesa (67), Jerry Lee Lewis (75), Anita Ekberg (79) and Lizabeth Scott (88)...

Timeline Countdown: 7 days until the MLB playoffs begin, 249 days until the World Series starts & 33 nights until Halloween...
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