CEOs Stage Pep Rally At Radio Show

The first session of a week-long all-virtual Radio Show kicked off Monday with a highly positive conversation that sent one clear message: AM and FM radio has its benefits.

With shifts and behavior changes addressed in a big way, David Field joined Cumulus Media CEO Mary Berner and iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman in painting a somewhat rosy picture of an industry that has turned furloughs to layoffs and has had a deeper struggle with ad recovery in comparison to its broadcast TV brethren.

According to Radio+Television Business Report Berner noted that her key focus as Cumulus’ leader is “the generation and preservation of cash,” as the company seeks ways to be more innovative when delivering content to its consumers.

Strengthening the relationship with the consumer is also integral to how Pittman and the team at iHeart are operating today. This was echoed by Entercom President/CEO Field, with the industry — in their collective view — coming together in ways designed to stop the ad dollar bleeding.

In Field’s view, Entercom’s focus is on how the company can get “to the other side” of the pandemic, knowing full well that the path will be full of bumps. For Entercom and its competitors, Field points to each company’s “enormously powerful platforms.”

RBR's Adam Jacobson notes Pittman has an easy explanation as to why advertising for radio took such a substantial hit once COVID-19 pandemic restrictions became widespread in late March 2020.

“Advertisers weren’t spending because they didn’t know what their message was,” he said, noting the need to pause campaigns and re-tool them for COVID times.

The second issue for radio? “Of course, people didn’t have the money” for advertising back in late March, Pittman explained.

Today, the brands that have used radio are again using radio, he claimed. And, there’s a silver lining to a terrible situation: Pittman believes the pandemic has led to “getting people to try our products.”

Radio Ink reports Berner revealed something that was very interesting. She said starting in April, she, Field and Pittman got on the phone, they spoke multiple times per week, to work together with Nielsen for example, to figure out how to get fair measurement during the pandemic, adding those discussions had a very positive outcome for Nielsen and for the industry. “As leaders we have to work together and we have. I’ve spoken to Bob and David about this. We’ve made decisions that would have normally taken us months to make, and we’re making them very quickly. It might be uncomfortable at the moment but it will be beneficial in the long run.”