Interep held an industry roundtable discussion 2/16 in New York City to proactively solicit the input of the agency community on the major challenges/ opportunities facing radio today. The roundtable discussion included both representatives from our client broadcasting groups (group heads, sales management and programmers) and ad agency execs (account management and media executives).

Interep has granted us exclusive details of the event beyond the press release. This discussion is the first in series of planned events by Interep to increase the communication and interaction between their client radio stations and media decision-makers. We present the discussion in a series.

Participants included:

Agencies:
Connie Betro, Broadcast Supervisor, Carat USA
Kathy Crawford, President of Local Broadcast, Mindshare
Sharon Friedlander, Associate Director, OMD
Michael Haggerty, Sr. VP, Group Director, Carat USA
Kendra Hatcher, Director of Consumer Context Planning, Starcom Mediavest
Debra O'Rell, President, Urban Communications
Tony Ruiz, Partner, Vidal Partnership
Kim Vasey, Director of Radio, Mediaedge: CIA

Broadcasters:
Rob Barnett, President of Programming, Infinity Broadcasting
Vinny Brown, Program Director, WBLS-FM/ NY, Inner City Broadcasting
John Dimick, Programming Director, Emmis/New York
Frank Flores, NY Market Manager, SBS
Dan Halyburton, Sr. VP/GM, Susquehanna Radio
Les Hollander, SVP/ Regional Manager, Infinity Broadcasting
David Kennedy, President and CEO, Susquehanna Media Company
Matt Ross, VP Sales and Marketing, Emmis/NY
Charles Warfield, President and COO, ICBC Broadcast Holdings

While the outside moderator (not part of our industry) did introduce topics as discussion openers, the conversation in the room often took on "a life of its own."

Pine tells RBR/TVBR, "We know from experience that we can achieve more for our industry by working in unison with the advertising community than acting unilaterally. We are also aware that in recent months, many agency executives were not happy with the way that a major industry initiative was sprung upon them. For that reason, we decided to take the lead in bringing together some of our independent radio with top agency decision-markers to discuss the pressing issues of the day. I was surprised at the emotion that many of the agency representatives expressed, and their eagerness to help radio's future growth. Basically, they said, we want to help, we want radio to prosper, but you need to ask for our help. You need to include us in your discussions."

He adds, "Radio faces some challenges in the years ahead. Broadcasters know this. Agencies know this. The more we work together, the better able we will be to shape our medium in a way that meets the evolving needs of our customers. Interep is committed to leading this charge."

The following issues ignited the most interest and discussion among the group:

- Radio's evolving relationship with new technologies,
- The importance of maintaining and developing compelling radio content,
- The value of radio's unique and personal relationship with its listeners,
- Maintaining and improving standards of measurement and accountability,
- The opportunities presented by HD Radio.

We start with the first two, with Interep providing the summary details:

Radio Programming/ Content

* In general, attendees from both the radio stations and agencies stated that radio formats do tend, by necessity, to "play the hits" and program to please the largest possible listening base. This sometimes leads to what some called "conservative" programming choices.

* In light of the growing number of choices offered by existing technologies, it was agreed that providing intriguing content is increasingly important. Content goes beyond music programming, and includes developing strong talent, establishing a connection with the community, and establishing a connection with the listener that transcends the experience provided by an IPOD or other form of self-selected music download. As one programmer said, "Music is not enough to drive our business. We must fight to have the best talent and create our own version of the hit."

* It was said that a good radio station "becomes part of the fabric of a listener's life." Or similarly, "We have to do more than just music. We have to find out what our listeners are doing and what they are interested in. Radio is a companionship vehicle."

* A radio station must cultivate a strong brand identity that complements and is relevant to a consumer's lifestyle. (Radio Disney was pointed out as one radio franchise that does this extremely well.)

* If the brand and the content are strong, participants felt that terrestrial radio would have no problem extending this brand/content via different delivery channels as technology evolves - for instance, via the Internet, cell phones, event marketing, mail, etc.

New Technologies

* There was overwhelming agreement that "technology is changing everything," and that "we have never been in a technological revolution like this one before."

* Agencies urged broadcasters not to keep their "head in the sand" surrounding new technologies - but rather to embrace them. As one participant said, "First build on your existing brand and make it as strong as possible. Then, take that brand and extend it to new technologies." Examples of brand extensions included streaming and HD conversion which would allow band splitting and sub-channels.

* Most agreed that new technologies such as iPODs, webcasting and satellite radio will impact terrestrial radio in terms of time spent listening. Some suggested that the key benefits of radio over these technologies are its local connection and the relationship with its listeners.

* The impact of new technologies on young people was of particular concern. Agencies were concerned that teens may never learn "radio behavior" and carry these habits over into their adult lives.

Others said, however, that teen behavior is not necessarily indicative of adult behavior. In other words, that as teens age, they may begin to turn to radio for much of the same reasons that their parents do, i.e. to hear local information, companionship, to listen to personality talk, and to listen to music in a passive manner (i.e. push vs. pull listening).

Some, however, said that young consumers were raised to expect and demand choice in their programming. They are no longer satisfied to wait for a song to play on the radio. It was suggested that radio must adapt some way to increase the level of choice in their programming.

RBR observation:
If radio doesn't brand itself as a local medium - - community involvement - - as teenagers grow up, they are going to find other avenues to depend on when something local happens in their community. What the roundtable basically addressed was when radio got all excited when voice tracking technology came about in 1999, that was nice, but now they have to revert back to being local. Local means creative content with quality PDs. That means investing in local talent. The radio stations and groups need to market their products better to let people know what they're doing, besides TV spots that promise "seven songs in a row."

The problem is radio has a poor identity right now vs. other technologies. Sure, we hope HD Radio might solve the problem with an added audio channel for each station and even more after all stations move to digital, but we're in the crisis now and all of that may not come to true fruition for years. Again, the answer for now is to get local. More local ad reads from the air staff. Local DJs. Local flavor. Local bands. Local content. Local interest. Local partnerships. Local identity. Local events. Locally programmed. Back to basics.

More in Monday's RBR/TVBR Daily Epapers.