By engaging in the business environment that is now here – Digital Media. This is not a cheap shot but a wake up call. Last week I attended my umpteenth RAB and on a scale of 1 to 10 it was around a 4. I put it into perspective – the last 25 years I have seen five different Presidents at the RAB.
A trade association president receives his or her marching orders from the board of directors and executive committee. The president’s duty is then to execute the plan. Ok, lets look at this – executing a plan by a board of directors – if I am not mistaken the RAB board is made up in part by a number of CEOs running radio companies that are publicly traded, and they are having real tough times.
Fact: Many of these groups have seen no growth, no shareholder value, no innovation in the last seven years. We have all read the RBR headlines and observations, and we can read the stark facts listed in the RBR stock chart. We also have read much of the analysis from Wall Street on their estimation of our radio business and many of these public companies – and watched as many of the analysts are pulled off the radio beat because increasingly their management doesn’t think it’s worth the trouble. The fish stinks at the head.
I say to myself – How can any marching orders be given to a president and more importantly, the organization’s when they, the publicly- traded radio groups have not and cannot figure out the right marching orders for themselves.
So do you shoot the messenger/president or put the target on the chest of those giving the marching orders? Do you wait and hook your future on slogans like Radio 2020, which NAB President/CEO David Rehr calls our roadmap to building radio’s future. The primary goals include innovation to meet changing consumer demands and reigniting consumer interest in radio. OK, I’ll buy a part of that but damn, 2020 is twelve years away. Hell, I will be 71 in 2020. Or, do we take matters into our own hands and start now to become self taught in how to compete in the new digital world? Work with companies that can teach you to grow.
When the NAB Radio Charlotte convention closed the hand writing was on the wall and it was time to take action, see NAB ’07-Radio’s Future 10/01/07 RBR #191. We saw quotes from radio leaders like this:
"We still stink at marketing ourselves."
"There is promise in HD, and the industry has about two years to get its act together…Otherwise, HD is going to smell like AM stereo."
"The web is our entré to the future. If radio becomes a website medium and [stays] an in-car medium, then it’s got a shot."
Since the 4th quarter of last year many if not most company executives have been sitting on their thumbs and not attacking with marketing or engaging into the digital medium. The WGA strike has left millions of dollars on the table and TV biz will never be the same. TV has learned they too have to improve their methodology of conducting business in the digital medium.
We at RBR are not waiting for 2020 — right now we are attacking the issues head on. I stated on October 29, ’07 what RBR was going to do to improve and engage on behalf of the Radio Medium in this Digital World for this year. NO BS we put our money where out mouth is and did it. Did it for my survival, did it for growth and did it because I believe in RADIO.
Please take a read the Observation on At the stroke of midnight 10/29/07 RBR #211 on what RBR would do in 2008 and we are doing it with action with RBR.com, the digital world.
Any company that can teach, inform, help the day-to-day operator to improve their stations and get into the digital world – I welcome your participation with RBR.com. It is time for the radio business, every company and I mean every type of company, to market themselves and put our face, our brands and services in front of the ad agencies, ad clients, in the face of wall street, on the internet and get those PageViews to demonstrate the strength and localism of our radio business today, and not by 2020.
Do not get what I mean? Do yourself a favor – during this conference I did an interview and put it all on the line – listen to what I said at RAB.com.
On RBR.com I posted my first webcast and now there is a second Carnegie Observation webcast. Yes, I am getting used to getting involved and using the tools of the Digital business environment. You can view on our Media Center at RBR.com
It is time to take back control of our radio business from Wall Street and get back to Main Street.
Post your comments below. See today’s Webcast as we are Thinking Out of the Box – Digital Media. And if you wish email me for your comment posting to [email protected]
Best & Respect,
Jim Carnegie
Publisher / Owner
RBR/ TVBR/ MBR
www.RBR.com
"Voice of the Broadcasting Industry …your Connection to the Digital World" ®
