The radio industry should be buzzing about the new iPhone. However, a check online of the top three radio industry trade magazines this morning (Radio & Records, Inside Radio, and Friday Morning Quarterback) shows this is not the case. With the exception of a short statement from an outside source at FMQB, there wasn't one word about the iPhone and its ability to push radio on the go. How can it be that the most important technological development for radio isn't getting any press in the most important radio publications? It's HITS thinking.

"There are a few exceptions but, in a general sense, radio has fallen, and it can't get up."

Keeping one's "Head In The Sand" has been brought to new levels of efficiency by the radio industry; not just in the executive suites, but also in the publications that are supposed to keep radio appraised of what's new. Apple's iPhone is the biggest radio news to come from the technology sector in a while. It certainly is most important news for radio because of the deal CBS Radio has, with Apple, to be included in a downloadable application that allows for 3G listening on the new iPhone.

But instead of headlining that Apple may be resuscitating radio, at a time when the industry's waiting for dismal reports on its June revenue, we get silence on Apple from radio industry trades. What is getting headlines? NAB's David Rehr, asking the FCC to consider how satellite radio hasn't kept promises from years ago and, therefore, should have its merger declined. Sorry, but that's not where it's at today. Radio, as in local terrestrial broadcasting, is getting its rear end handed to it on an internet platter. It's lost youth. It is losing more revenue each quarter. It continues to cut its way out of the future, lessening radio's importance with each slash of the budget knife. There are a few exceptions but, in a general sense, radio has fallen, and it can't get up. Now along comes Apple with enough publicity to put the word "radio" back into the head of a lost generation, and it's ignored by the industry trades. A side note to all of this is that there's nothing stupendous about the Apple announcement. I've been able to listen to radio online for a long time using my Trio. Only, Apple has the swagger to make other people take notice in a way that radio lost long ago, particularly with youth. It's not that there's no opportunity left; the world is awash with opportunity. Radio just continues to ignore all that is new in hopes that playing the hits - and making proclamations about radio's new media intentions - will keep it alive. It won't. HITS thinking, as in keeping one's "head in the sand," is driving the drop that's hitting the industry. Being on the cutting edge once kept radio growing, when it was growing. That's exactly the opposite of what the industry is doing now. Or, at the least, being on the cutting edge isn't important anymore. Want to see what you're missing? Compare radio industry trades with what's being printed in other publications. Nearly every publication outside of radio mentions Apple iPhone's ability to deliver radio from the internet - and not one is talking about satellite radio, except to say that it's toast.

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