Inside Music Media

It’s always bad news: rating revenue trending down, audiences getting older, digital taking more local dollars, audiences preferring on-demand content over broadcast.

STOP!

We’re making it worse than it has to be.

I’ve identified 7 critical areas that must be mastered for radio stations to compete in the digital world. Things that will absolutely make a difference even if you can improve only one or two of them over the next year.

It comes down to this …

Innovation.

Mastering digital.

Rethinking social media.

Reinvention of on-air programming.

New revenue streams from short-form video.

Engaging 80 million Millennials.

And time-shifting radio content.

On March 26 I am going to lay out the plan from top to bottom making a case for why we should master the strategies it takes to dominate in these areas.

And we’ll work together – collaboratively – so that you can really benefit from being there. Interrupt. Interact. Question. This seminar will not be available by video or streaming because we need to do this together.

I will utilize my experience as a professor at the University of Southern California where I taught generational media. My associates were outstanding resources for understanding the 80 million strong Millennial generation and it was there that I created the prototype to my annual Media Solutions Conference which is now presented for broadcast media executives.

I’ll have some new eye-opening information about Millennials that will make you double down on the attention you pay to them. The oldest Millennial just turned 30! We want to get good at making content they will crave.

This is our mission:

How to disrupt your radio station before digital competitors do. It used to be we feared our competitors, now it is technology, an infinite number of alternative content choices and the whirlwind impact of social media we fear. We need to understand how to really disrupt our stations without damaging them – and I will show you. You’re going to like it and get good at disruption. After all, Google and Apple made a fortune doing it.
Master digital. Streaming, websites and fumbling around with social media will not be sufficient. I will tell you about an entrepreneur who uses video with social media and earns her $3 million a year. That’s without selling any advertising, no product placement and – are you ready? No commercials. This will be my gift to you and since the Media Solutions Conference is never streamed or recorded for sale to non-attendees, you’ll want to be in Philly for this learning module.
Shakeup social media strategies. To be honest, the Millennials who drive social media are fickle and they are in the midst of bailing on Facebook and Twitter right now. Yet most stations are dependent on these social networks as part of their media strategy. Earlier I said we must use our resources more judiciously so wasting time on social media that 80 million people are abandoning is not a good use of resources. You’ll learn the social media sites to embrace including a few new surprises and the ones to back off of. Attend this conference and I promise -- your station will not be the one caught trying to be cool when the audience has moved on.
Reinvent radio for the digital age. The big conundrum is where should on-air radio and digital content meet? What is the new purpose for an FM radio station? Is there a use for AM for a large youthful audience that is not inclined to like any kind of radio including satellite radio? How to know what Pandora really is which is not your on-air competitor at all – it’s your advertising competitor and there are strategies to shut them down or out of your local markets. There is a more effective way to reinvigorate your radio station that is increasingly under attack from digital competitors and you’ll leave Philly with that.
Growth opportunities in short-form video. Let me be blunt. It doesn’t matter if you’re number one in your radio market; it’s now mandatory that you be number one in video as well. YouTube is the new hit radio station to teens. Netflix is the new TV. Cable is dead with them and bundling will end after a long fight by the cable companies to keep it on life support. Radio stations are natural content creators for video and I will explain the opportunities, risks and rewards on March 26^th.
Engage 80 million Millennials. Radio talks to itself these days. Unless we know the things that Millennials really care about then it will be difficult to remain viable in the radio business. They hate hype. Respectfully, we are the masters of hype. Millennials are a very civic generation. We do a lot less of getting involved in civic pursuits than we used to and nothing near what will get them to give a second listen to radio. Millennials don’t see color or gender and yet our stations are largely run by men, with too few women on-air and very little diversity. But there is a comeback plan and you’ll get it.
Time-shift radio. Think about it. Now we all want to access content when we want to, where we want to and how. But radio is a broadcast medium, how does it time-shift? The out of touch think that they just need to podcast some programs or personalities and that would be incorrect. In fact, learning the exact length of content for the younger end of the money demo will be worth the day in Philly if the other modules are not enough. Plainly put, we all must learn to time-shift radio. First in wins.