Open Letter To The Radio Industry & Seven Strategies For Rebuilding The Industry… Part II.

Part II

6. Brands, Brands, Brands: Where are the Radio Brands? Why are the biggest brands in popular music distribution today Launch@Yahoo!, Radio@AOL, Real, Kazaa, and Audio Galaxy. Why are the up and coming brands Sirius and XM? Readers are welcome to submit other music distribution brands, but where are the radio stations in this mix. What are the modern day national versions of the WMCA Good Guys; the WNEW-FM of Scott Muni, Dave Herman, Allison Steele, and Jonathan Schwartz; the WABC that Rick Sklar made an East Coast powerhouse; the WNEW-AM of Gene Klaven and William B. Williams? Every city had its own local version of a branded radio station. Everyone knew the format and everyone you knew listened. Radio is no longer a local medium, and that’s an issue for another column. Sure, radio has developed brand name talent like Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh. But radio has failed to develop meaningful national music brands. With all the power of MTV, VH1, Spike, and CMT, why hasn’t Infinity capitalized on these brands and extended them into national radio? The WB offers The WB Radio on Radio@AOL. ESPN Radio has built a powerful national brand in sports radio. Disney Radio has been successfully created for kids. What am I missing in the evolution of radio that has failed to embrace the extraordinarily valuable music brands that have been built in cable television? And it’s not just music. Why not CNN Radio? Why not Discovery Radio? Clear Channel has exceptional radio assets and a ubiquitous concert promotion business. The company uses its brand for music promotion; why are there no branded Clear Channel radio stations that emphasize tour information, contests, promotion and music? Everything is about brands today. The radio business will suffer if it fails to develop and market relevant national branded properties.

7. Be Interactive & Think Nationally. While many stations have created promotional websites, only a fraction stream their audio signals via the web. This creates an important opportunity for national audio brands to develop on the web and slowly erode radio’s share of market. Television executives are wondering where the 18 to 34 male audience has gone. The young audience is leaving the radio medium as well. More and more young people are listening to music over the Internet and on MP3 players. The music industry is collapsing, merging, purging and imploding, yet the radio industry is not reacting. In the 1950s, as television viewing replaced radio as America’s favorite form of mass entertainment, the radio industry adroitly shifted to new formats, primarily locally programmed music and talk. Until then, radio had been a national medium, with programming such as Green Lantern, Amos & Andy, Fibber McGee & Molly, Gale Storm, The Lone Ranger, and The Jack Benny Show. It’s time for radio executives to begin thinking nationally again – and even globally – by embracing brand-based media expansion opportunities combined with Internet streaming. Radio should be co-opting the Internet as an expansion vehicle before the Internet becomes the new audio medium of the Net generation.

There are no short term solutions to the problems facing the radio industry. But until innovation, creativity and brand development become institutionalized within the organizations of the major radio companies, real solutions will be shot down by overwhelming economic and regulatory realities long before they bear fruit. It’s time to bring some free form management into the radio business with a commitment to long-term support.

Courtesy of Jack Myers

For more information at http://www.jackmyers.com