Noting Regent CEO Bill Stakelin’s long career in radio in both large and small markets, plus a stint heading the RAB, CL King analyst Jim Boyle, himself a long time veteran, asked whether, after more than six years of slow-to-no-growth, is this still a cyclical downdraft or a long-term change? Stakelin said the impact of new media has changed the equation, but that online is a big opportunity for radio. “There’s gold in them thar hills and we think we’re good enough to mine it on behalf of our shareholders,” the CEO concluded. Then Boyle asked Stakelin to predict the future – will radio, long-term, return to a pattern of 1-2% average growth, 3-4% or 5-6%? “I’m still holding out for the 3-4 right now. I think when the larger markets and all of us regain our focus on the fact that this is a local-based, local-driven advertising medium and we get back to the basics of selling our local markets and serving the advertisers and their needs in those markets – be it in Buffalo or Watertown, New York – then I think we will have more control over our own destiny and how we can drive revenues and increase profits,” Stakelin said.
