Thursday, September 22, 2016

NAB, RAB Radio Show Opens In Nashville


The 2016 Radio Show, produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), opened on Wednesday in Nashville.

The show brings radio broadcasters and industry colleagues together to share knowledge, discover the latest innovations, network with industry leaders and explore creative business strategies for the digital age.

The schedule of sessions opened with the annual presentation analyzing radio's financial outlook, according to RadioInfo.com.

Wells Fargo Securities' Davis Hebert said radio is only slightly underperforming the post-recession market: it currently takes 7% of total ad spending of $200 billion and is expected to modestly decline to 6% by 2019, remaining relatively stable as digital takes an increasing share of spending.

He called radio “the best performing sector in traditional media in 2016," saying it has produced more visible results than television.

In the Broadcast Leadership Panel that followed, Capital One's Ray Shu said that radio "is still a very relevant sector" but needs to get that message to investors.

Cox Media Group's Bill Hendrich warned that "we will be slowly strangled to death" if radio continues to have the image with ad agencies of not reaching Millennials.

At the Innovation Stage, Disney/Abc's Howard Price pointed out that radio stations have many points vulnerable to attack, from access control systems to programming and transmitter automation and even voice tracking systems, and the expansion of the "Internet of Things" will only offer more vulnerabilities as more devices are connected.

At the annual Radio Show luncheon, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith chatted with DTS Chairman and CEO Jon Kirchner.

"You don't want radio to become the thing your dad did," Kirchner said, stressing the need to appear current.

The luncheon also honoured former Lincoln Financial Media President/CEO Don Benson with the 2016 National Radio Award.

Nielsen's podcast sales panel explored the progress being made in selling the growing medium and the attempts to move from direct-response to brand advertising.  Brad Kelly indicated that Nielsen would be making announcements to bringing a podcast measurement product to market in 2017.

Adlarge Media's Cathy Czukas discussed her company's position as an audio-centric business and focus on building a roster of podcasts in specific genres.  Horizon Media's Greg Roseto observed that there is no single answer to the question of where the dollars for podcast ads are coming from, indicating that the shift depends on the client and situation.

The final session of the day was keynoted by Dave Ramsey and featured Big & Rich's John Rich talking about entrepreneurship and branding, plus musician Graham Nash.

No comments:

Post a Comment