Radio Industry Conference (RAB 2007) Observations
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There were hundreds of radio industry executives at RAB 2007, and one less-important person watching them all. As the suits were running from one session to the next to be updated on the latest that radio has to offer, the observer was taking mental notes. Here is a ten-point list of what he saw.
1) The excitement generated by slick program hand-outs and fancy signs announcing 45-minute sessions dealing with a host of revenue-generating ideas, such as increasing ROI and how to make money on the internet, was consistent throughout the conference. So were positive thoughts, in quantities far higher than the information.
2) While this year's RAB Conference held many more sessions about dealing with the internet than past get-togethers did, there was only one session (IMHO) that offered insightful information, the one offered by Jim Taszarek. Affectionately known as "Taz," Jim's been watching how the internet affects radio for as long as I have (over ten years). Taz "gets it." Better yet, he knows how to convey his knowledge in a way that sticks in your mind and is within reach of the average radio station sales exec.
3) Most everyone I spoke with about HD Radio at RAB 2007 admitted privately that it was the wrong road. That's a problem because the radio industry chief executives obviously disagree. If radio keeps putting its faith behind HD, bludgeoning the public with ads that sell a "discover it" approach, five years from now we'll all be asking "why?"
4) Radio does have a future, but it's confused as to what part it will play in the public's lives, what its true purpose is in the daily routine of youth (or how to reattach itself to this lost generation), and what's the best approach to incorporating new media into radio's business model. There's still a lot of talk offering many promises, though my guess is that next week will be no different than the week preceding the RAB's gathering. Next month (and year) will be the same too.
5) The internet is real. Though the information given at RAB 2007, through a number of sessions dealing with how to use the internet, was not. The rhetoric used was close to that of a high school cheerleading assembly, where the main purpose is to pump up the excitement. Little effort was spent in giving precise instructions, I suppose because all the time was spent on convincing everyone that the internet is here and now is the time to act. Problem is, seven years ago was the time to act. Today it's time to react, and playing catch-up is always harder than starting the race with your competitors.
6) Competitors! It's still not clear to the radio industry that its competition is not new media, but the content new media delivers. Understand that RAB 2007 was an event for managers and sales-type people. The sessions (and conversations) I took part in were not about improving content; they were about defining how radio is still relative, local, and ubiquitous. Nobody addressed "for how long" if content isn't made better.
7) Google had a slick display featuring its Google Audio. Yet, each time I walked past its booth, there was a distinct lack of persons surrounding the computer screens to explain this new form of radio sales. One, two, at the most three persons were occupying the Google employees' time, either trying to learn about a new way to sell or about a new competitor. (In my early days of trying to introduce traffic reports to the radio industry, I experienced the same blase response. And we all know how traffic ended up as radio's savior.)
8) While NAB's new CEO, David Rehr, called for a "crusade for radio" that was delivered with the conviction of a Richard the Lionheart, there is very little that can be done if the conversion away from listening to (and buying advertising time on) radio is not responded to directly. The industry needs to create programming that serves the audience and advertisers' needs. Ramping up a powerful promotion strategy for the industry to generate sustained positive press isn't possible; satellite radio has already proved that. As for countering negative press, that can only be done by providing evidence that it's wrong. In the vast majority of articles about radio, written to date, the arguments are hard to refute.
9) There are a few sentences about Betsy Lazar's keynote address at Radio & Records. Here's what R&R reports: "General Motors media buyer Betsy Lazar delivered the RAB's luncheon address, and, while professing her affection for radio (and relentlessly pitching GM products), she encouraged radio to adapt to the new world of media." Truth be told, Ms. Lazar lambasted the industry for not adapting to the "new world of media." I heard from more than one attendee of this keynote address how they wanted to "get up and walk out of the room." That's typical radio thinking; if the topic isn't praising you, don't listen.
10) The best choreographed presentation award has to go to Dave Casper and John Potter, two members of RAB's Radio Training Academy, who presented "New Media: Expanding Radio Revenues in the Digital World." These two fellows are packed with knowledge about how to get your station web site going, evidenced by the fact that they did not use any Clear Channel web sites in their fast-paced demonstration. However, while speaking in a cadence and conviction that would have made any speach teacher proud, they did not cover the expense and mechanics of attaining what they spoke of, and left me wondering how much combat experience either of them holds. What they said was true. What they didn't say was that much of what they spoke about was out of line with budgets assigned to the internet side of radio.
Summary:
Weeks agos I wrote "RAB 2007 Will Move Radio Industry Forward." Today I'll change that observation and say that RAB 2007 was another exercise in rallying the troups. Its intent was to get radio to attack in a world of new media. Its result leaves the question of how to win unanswered.
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