Hey Radio, Get a Clue!
As follow up to yesterday’s prediction that Apple is about to take control of the podcasting phenomenon, we have today’s push by NYT‘s Stuart Elliot about the radio industry’s "double-barreled campaign aimed at its core younger-adult audience." The National Association of Broadcasters will spend $28 million (partly in print –irony rules!) to convince listeners that broadcast radio is still relevant in the age of Sirius, XM and iPods.
Evidently, younger listeners aren’t listening to radio quite as much as they used to (duhh) so the NAB has hauled out oh so hip, relevant and timely acts like Hall & Oates, Lynyrd Skynyrd (are any of them still breathing?), Vanessa Williams and Lee Ann Rimes to convince America’s youth to tune in. Now, admitedly they have a few acts like Hoobastank and Nelly in the mix, but as I recall, even at my advanced age, I discovered Hoobastank as a weekly freebie on iTunes.
Here’s a clue for the NAB. Free. (Like radio)
Commutes home without the iPod have become an audio nightmare. Stop playing the same 25 boring acts all day long and get rid of about 75% of the commercials or you face a long, painful decline. You’ll keep your local stuff and lose the national advertisers. Give the $28 million to Tsunami relief. Better yet, fund Digital Axle. Spare us.
