The Radio Advertising Bureau stopped issuing detailed press releases on monthly revenue figures a year ago, but continued to put out the bare bones figures on a monthly basis. RAB SVP/Marketing & Communications Leah Kamon told RBR/TVBR that an ongoing assessment had continued since then and the RAB has now decided to focus on its quarterly revenue report to provide trending data. She said the organization also hopes to “identify opportunities for radio” with the quarterly reports.
RBR/TVBR observation: Hardly a surprise. We hear that fewer groups are supplying data to Miller Kaplan, which provides the reports to RAB. Also, there are far fewer Wall Street analysts following the radio industry these days. However, understandable though it may be, it’s a sad thing to see the industry we love adopt the defensive posture of the ostrich. Everybody knows times are tough. But they won’t be tough forever. When an ostrich manages to hold its head back up, it still is a goofy-looking ostrich head, and it has nothing to brag about. We’d rather radio keep its head up during the tough time and celebrate the turnaround with earned pride.
