RAIN Summit Orlando Covers Digital Audio Topics

Today in Orlando

By PERRY MICHAEL SIMON in ORLANDO:  The RAIN SUMMIT came to ORLANDO in advance of the RADIO SHOW on TUESDAY (9/25), with a full day of panels and presentations focused on radio in the digital space.

Start Here

A chat between RAIN's BRAD HILL and ABC NEWS "START HERE" host BRAD MIELKE opened the proceedings with discussion of how the show was conceived and how it was received internally at ABC ("management was immediately on board... what we were surprised about was the buy-in from talent" guesting on the show), the production schedule (the show posts by 6a (ET) and the process begins almost 24 hours earlier with the network's morning call), and how MIELKE's radio experience informs his podcasting (relationships with top journalists, "voracious curiosity").

Radio's Podcasting Push

On the "Podcast Strategies For Radio" panel, moderated by TRITON DIGITAL's JOHN ROSSO with WESTWOOD ONE's KELLI HURLEY, AMPLIFI MEDIA's STEVE GOLDSTEIN, BEASLEY's JUSTIN CHASE, and consultant GABE HOBBS, CHASE said that BEASLEY is "all in" and seeing that previously aired content from its radio shows is generating the largest podcast listenership, and called repurposed content "our gateway" to podcasting.  CHASE and GOLDSTEIN noted a "significant" impact on ratings from time-shifted listening using podcasts at least 5 minutes in length within the same quarter hour heard within 24 hours and encoded; "one meter," CHASE pointed out, "can make so much of a difference." 

The panel discussed radio's investment in podcasting (CHASE said "we're investing in our future" and HOBBS voiced hope that iHEARTMEDIA and CUMULUS, freed from their pre-bankruptcy debt, will increase investment in the medium), repurposed versus original content (HURLEY said that her company is looking at talent at the local and national station level to develop new podcast content), promoting podcasts via radio (HURLEY said that BEN SHAPIRO's podcast airing on broadcast stations has increased the podcast's listening in those markets), monetization, including direct response advertising.  HURLEY said CPMs are ranging from $20 to $40, and some get more, but new shows and smaller download figures require flexibility; most are sold as stand-alone availabilities, but some, like the recently-launched EMPOW(h)ER women's podcast network, are sold in aggregate.

GOLDSTEIN noted that podcasting "reaches the very hard to reach 18-35 year old" audience, and predicted that in programmatic sales, advertising will come to podcasting because that demographic is so "elusive."

GenX Represented

After AdsWIZZ's MARSHA FISCHER offered an overview of digital audio growth trends and advertising, a panel of students recruited from the UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA -- JORGE LOPEZ, CELIA ROULET, FABRON ALEXIS, and KARI HOLLY -- offered their perspectives on media usage, including what they hear when waking up, whether they listen to radio (they generally don't -- LOPEZ said "it's obsolete -- no disrespect!" and added that the sole advantage to radio, as voiced by his mother, is that it's available when the Internet goes down; HOLLY said she listens when visiting home, but not while at school), streaming services, YOUTUBE music listening, playlists, sharing, and podcasts (with only one exception, they're not listening to those, either).

After Lunch

RAIN Publisher/ACCURADIO CEO KURT HANSON offered his State of the Industry presentation, based on the theme of value migration -- consumer preference changes combined with a new business model -- which has moved value from traditional media to digital.  HANSON pointed to smartphones (combined with Bluetooth headsets) as disrupting media business models and noted that the disappearing headphone jack makes broadcast FM reception via smartphone impractical; wearables, including the APPLE Watch, continue to grow, albeit more slowly than expected, and data plans are getting cheaper, meaning, along with more ubiquitous Wi-Fi, consumption of audio via smartphones is getting easier and cheaper.  Smart speakers also figure into the disruption, and connected cars will be a final technological disrupter for radio, although the slow replacement of current vehicles and slow adoption of Android Auto and APPLE Car Play were noted as well.  HANSON's standard "STAR TREK" reference was particularly apropos this time, with the CBS ALL ACCESS subscription video on demand service propelled by the latest series in the franchise.  And he compared podcasting's growth to where online radio was in 2009, with comparable growth poised to jump substantially.

HANSON's talk was scheduled to be followed by a panel on programmatic sales for audio moderated by DAX U.S. CEO MATT CUTAIR with PANDORA's MARIA BREZA, JELLI's MOLLY GLOVER GALLATIN, WIDEORBIT's SUSIE HEDRICK, and THE RUBICON PROJECT's NINA HARVEY.  EDISON RESEARCH's MEGAN LAZOVICK is presenting new data on "Radio's Hardware Problem," namely the absence of actual radios in people's homes and the rise of alternatives like smart speakers.  Finally, the agenda closes with a "Radio Digital Leadership Roundtable," moderated by jacAPPS' PAUL JACOBS with ENTERCOM's JD CROWLEY, iHEARTMEDIA's BRIAN KAMINSKY, BEASLEY's KIMBERLY SONNEBORN, and ALPHA MEDIA's STEFAN BROCK.

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