Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman doesn’t believe streaming
hours will overtake traditional radio in his lifetime.
He tells Fortune, “Music collections always replace each
other and radio always tends to be yet another choice,” he says. “Satellite
didn’t kill FM. AM didn’t kill FM. (Streaming music) one more choice and one
more device you can listen to the radio on.”
With that perspective, why would Clear Channel waste
resources getting 50 million people to use a streaming service like iHeartRadio
to begin with.?
The short answer, Pittman says, is growth. He maintains that
digital is an important growth area for the business, even if the $17 billion
or so that advertisers spend on radio each year is slow to move over to the
Web.
Clear Channel and iHeartRadio have considered selling
subscriptions or downloads to monetize, similar to their competitors, Pittman
says, but for now the company plans to stay “above the fray” in its
relationship with record labels. “They’re in the business of selling the music
and we’re not,” he says.
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