Audio Summit: iHM's Pittman.. Audio's Never Been Hotter

All Access Music, the website started 26 years ago by longtime radio trade publisher Joel Denver, presented its annual confab remotely for the first time, changing the name from All Access Worldwide Radio Summit to All Access Audio Summit, reports Variety.

In an interview that helped kick off the confab, iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman made it clear he was down with the switch from a focus purely on the airwaves, agreeing that iHeartMedia is “a true multi-platform company that features digital audio, which has never been hotter.”

With last year’s session postponed by the pandemic, this year’s edition, running Wednesday and Thursday, has gone virtual, with $150 admission fee across the board. Seventeen individual panels are scheduled for the two days, hosted by KOST L.A.’s on-air personality Ellen K today and nationally syndicated Latina morning drive host Dana Cortez Thursday.

The sessions run the gamut from “Why It Was a Good Thing I Got Fired,” “Podcasting as a Parachute” and Nielsen Audio Ratings to “The Changing Dynamics of Programming Local Radio,” “The Future of Talent Acquisition & Coaching,” research data from Jacobs Media and Coleman Insights, an all-female voiceover panel and a discussion with “The Breakfast Club’s” Charlamagne the God, Angela Yee and DJ Envy.

Pittman was interviewed by Denver about the past year in radio and how it was affected by Covid-19. “It’s been constructive,” said the ever-optimistic broadcasting vet who remains bullish on terrestrial radio. “We’ve learned a lot, put some theories to the test… I think the country is coming back. I view this as a natural disaster rather than an economic one. Wherever restrictions are lifted, the consumer comes roaring back. We’re trying not to sell too far ahead, though, and just try to be in the present.”

Pittman noted that whenever there is a financial downturn, a new technology arrives to take advantage, as cable TV did in the ‘80s, online advertising in the ‘90s, social media in the 2000s and now podcasting. “Whenever there’s been a recession, advertisers try something new. With TV viewing moving to subscription services,” Pittman noted, “there are fewer places for advertisers to reach, as they increasingly turn to “fundamental” audio podcasts, where on demand listening has created the modern equivalent of Pittman’s old cable promise of niche programming, “providing content for people to watch when they want to.”

iHeartMedia's Bob Pittman Talks About The Present And Future Of Audio At All Access Audio Summit https://t.co/68qbtMu17k

— Tom Benson (@Tombenson1) April 22, 2021

The iHeartMedia exec insisted, “Localism is more important than ever. Technology has unlocked the possibilities of recording at home, or anywhere for that matter.” And while personalities can now be put on the air in any market, “the local role of programmers is to turn the math into magic. Regardless of where the talent is, they need to provide local information, which is accessible to everyone on the Internet.

Pittman says podcasting has increased in revenue more than 200% and the company’s podcasts boast 30 million unique users, more than either the NPR or the New York Times.

“We see a real synergy between broadcast and digital/streaming by promoting the podcasts on the radio. We have to think as a consumer, not as a factory that makes things. We need to be where the consumers are”

As for radio’s role as a musical discovery medium in the wake of DSPs like Spotify, Apple and Amazon, Pittman insists “people are looking for someone to keep them company, to be their friend. It’s not necessarily about the music, it’s about companionship.”