As expected, the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the challenges posed by distracted drivers had absolutely nothing to do with radio. The biggest concern was text messaging, with other matters, like studying GPS systems, getting honorable mentions.
Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller said that one of the methods that will put into play to combat the problem is a public education campaign, including advertising paid for with a surplus of cash allocated to promoting seatbelt use and apparently sitting unused in the Treasury.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski also mentioned the need for public education, including PSAs. He said the FCC would put the public outreach experience it gained promoting the DTV transition into use to address the problem.
RBR-TVBR observation: Attention, legislators and regulators with money to spend. The perfect media outlets to gain point-of-purchase access to distracted drivers are radio, radio, radio and radio. And if teens are the biggest worry, then just about any competent media buyer can tell you what they’re listening too – and maybe the manufacturer of the latest acne preparation will put together a list for you pro bono.
