Mobile Radio Simplified. Accessible. Relevant.

This remains to be seen. When the 2020 initiatives were introduced last year, everyone knew it was simply a veiled plug for HD Radio, as more open solutions to bring on-demand radio choices got pushed back and ignored. The innovators are routinely ignored in radio.

It is undeniable that the tendency in this industry of tech laggards is to feign sincere interest while juggling as many indefinite maybes as manageable. Jobs are retained for the time being. I hear this everywhere I go, and have experienced it many times first hand. I am not sour on the industry, mind you, as I have stood against the general satirization of it quite often. I just feel as we approach another conference that it is so vital to speak up and expose the clear impediments to progress.

So let us make progress shall we?
Here is the approach I take in advising radio executives about how to responsibly navigate the future. If you don’t do the items on the list below, save your money and stay away from Austin next month if your reason for going is to advance into the realm of New Media and especially mobile radio on demand:

1) Budget for good sales vendor partnerships. There are firms that can help boost your sales, but you have to have a budget that will engage at least 2-3 of them.

2) Understand that you need to meld into the new ecosystem, using the strengths of radio to leverage your power in ways others can’t.

3) Break listeners down into dollar units, and compare ARPL (average revenue per listener) between the different formats your content can be distributed on. Some new per-listener revenue sharing models proposed by new industry entrants have a higher yield than your CPM models. So don’t hesitate to promote listener format conversion, as long as the bottom line is enhanced.

4) You need to study all the new radio-centric new media startups out there and understand the differences of each, tell them the truth and insist that they make their solutions relevant to your industry.

5) You need to lead the mainstream into adoption of new media technology rather than, through inept execution or outright resistance, settle for the laggard demos.

6) You need to combine new media perks to your ad sales, working with firms like HipCricket and us. There are many others as well. Do your homework.

There is more to be said of course, but this list is one of the wisest things you need to hear at this time, whether or not you go to Austin.

BTW, let me know if you are going. I am still undecided, and you might push me over the edge.