MARCONI DREAMS

Radio people, talking about sincerity. What a concept.

DaveNewton — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:43:30 +0000

My friend Jaye Albright, one of the leading country radio consultants, asks in her blog today, could there be a trend afoot, away from sarcasm, toward sincerity? Ever the radio implementer, Jaye asks, in a Facebook post, “Does uplifting material create more buzz than sarcasm?” You can read her post here. I was moved to comment in Facebook: I said: ”As long as radio people assume human on-air behavior, like music, is just another ratings-meter button, and format it, snark will rule those stations that seek the 18-34 male rock-n-roll demo, along with their warped and narrow view of what all younger people are like. Life is different. Moods, sarcastic and sincere, are all out there, mostly in balance. People who are only one thing — whether exuding syrupy optimism or seething with cynicism — don’t make authentic friends. Imagine a radio station with real people, as opposed to hyperthyroid, stand-up-comic, buzz-inducing readers. That would be something. Gee. I sound snarky. Don’t worry, it’s just a passing mood.”

Pandora.com — the new music radio.

DaveNewton — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:28:05 +0000

Sorry about that fan-boy futurist headline. Radio people have had enough of such obituarial provocations, I’m sure. But…if you’re part of radio’s research-ratings-driven music complex, just read this New York Times report on Pandora, which started out, not as an advertising play, but a music-discovery machine. Not so suddenly, Pandora has become a $50 million-a-year success. The Web empowers the user — they call them users, not “listeners.” See if you don’t feel the hot breath of change on the back of your neck. [LINK]

I’m back again.

DaveNewton — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:24:08 +0000

I just got mad all over again about what’s happened to radio. So I’m gonna post again here, occasionally. American commercial broadcast radio is still producing cash flow, while it struggles to refinance its ridiculously bankrupt, failed stock-play business model. Meanwhile its still-profitable-but-hopelessly irrelevant operating model loses skin cells by the trillions every broadcast minute. There’s even talk in the government of repossessing TV channels to convert all that outdated and inefficient use of bandwidth to digital broadband service — can all those fat radio licenses be far behind? In Canada, radio licensees are actually turning in their AM licenses to the government and shutting down the stations that they’ve operated for nearly a century. It’s way too late for radio people to wake up and start distributing some kind of audio programming to the Web, which is currently the only conceivable way to get into all cellphones or other digital devices. But…even though it’s late, there’s still time. Will radio people survive the digital tsunami? Stay tuned. Or not.

Not news…

DaveNewton — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:12:36 +0000

The New York Times reports the Wall Street buzz on Clear Channel. [LINK]

Bankruptcy. Why not?

DaveNewton — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:59:57 +0000

President Obama has announced a save-Chrysler plan that includes a bankruptcy filing. Gasp. But wait. This bankruptcy is part of a plan in which virtually all of Chrysler’s stakeholders (love that word), the people, banks, and organizations who have a stake in the survival and success of Chrysler, are volunteering to take a huge hit, making huge sacrifices, to allow the company to survive. How about bankruptcy as the solution to the radio industry mess? Radio is a healthy, viable, operating business. It hasn’t been destroyed yet by the Internet and the IPod. It’s the debt-burden imposed by ten years of speculative trafficking in stations that’s done it in. Radio needs a massive swamp-draining. Like the equity speculators who’re going to take a bath in the Chrysler bankruptcy, the overinflated gamblers who have lived high on their fees and commissions while creating a frail, unmanageable financial balloon for American radio, should be forced to make their contribution to its revival. Bankruptcy is the answer. Let’s follow the Chrysler model, and surgically remove the speculators. We need to find a whole new generation of local businesspeople to take on their town’s radio stations. But, I assure you, the price will be right.