Pittman: “Radio deserves a lot more than it gets”

Bob Pittman at Festival of Media

Clear Channel CEO, Bob Pittman, has said marketers need to revise their media mix and give more consideration to radio, which he said is a medium largely overlooked despite its “incredible return”.

Speaking at the Festival of Media, Pittman continued: “Radio has done a terrible job of marketing itself,” according to The Drum.  Pittman added that it (radio) performed a “unique function” especially as consumers continue to move on to mobile devices.

“In this mobile world, these outdoor and radio businesses that we have are the sweet spot,” he explained, saying that TV advertisers are beginning to recognise that they’ve been overspending on that one medium.

“TV is wonderful but the media mix is out of whack – radio deserves a lot more than it gets. The usage is about the same and about the third of the money spent in digital goes to radio. The media mix has changed,” he said.

Offering an example, he spoke of a friend of his who runs a Hollywood film studio; “He was looking at data and told me his exit survey found 60 per cent of people heard about the movie on TV, 20 per cent on radio. Then he looked at his ad spend and realised he’d spend 80 per cent on TV and three per cent on radio. His media mix was wrong."

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