The Radio Show Wraps Up In Dallas Today

Happening In Dallas

The RAB/NAB RADIO SHOW finishes TODAY (9/21) at The HILTON ANATOLE in DALLAS. The NAB/RAB reported that 2,406 people registered for the 2012 Radio Show, an increase of 200 attendees over last year.  Next year's event is scheduled for SEPTEMBER 18-20, 2013 at the ROSEN SHINGLE CREEK resort in ORLANDO.
 
Speaking Of Sports

The final day's sessions opened with a panel on the growth of the Sports format, with BOB SNYDER moderating and CBS RADIO/DALLAS' BRUCE GILBERT, ESPN's TRAUG KELLER and ARBITRON's JON MILLER offering their perspectives.
 
MILLER gave an overview of research on how Americans use Sports radio, putting Sports as the seventh largest format by station count, ahead of Oldies, Classic Hits, Classic Rock, and Hot AC and ranking second only to News and News-Talk in loyalty of "P1" listeners.  From SCARBOROUGH data, MILLER profiled Sports listeners as 75% male, 65% in the 25-54 demographic, highly employed (the highest percentage of full-time working listeners of any format) and well-educated, the third-ranked format for earners over $100,000, and third in owners of high-value homes.  

He also showed that FM Sports stations reach a younger audience (media age 45 on AM, 40 on FM) and gain a larger daily cume rating.  GILBERT, who oversees Sports KRLD-F (105.3 THE FAN)/DALLAS, called the Sports audience "parochial" and looking for local Sports talk.  KELLER said that putting some of ESPN RADIO's shows on TV with simulcasts helped boost the radio shows rather than cannibalizing the ratings. 

All of the panelists said that there is room in large markets and "big sports towns" for multiple, competing Sports stations to succeed; GILBERT said that the PPM is "event-oriented," explaining the boost from play-by-play and the u-turn by some radio groups in the past year on play-by-play rights.  He added that the value of play-by-play is not only in ratings but in access to sponsors.  KELLER stressed the importance of reaching the Spanish-speaking audience, noting the rapid growth of the segment, while GILBERT called for more minority and female hosts in the format, saying that Sports radio needs diversification.
 
Also in the 9a session slot, the show included panels on social media, the relationship between programming and sales, the push to establish radio's position on the digital dashboard of the future, ARBITRON's BILL ROSE presenting USA TOUCHPOINTS data on radio in the context of users' daily lives and other media, and disaster preparedness with representatives of FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.

What They Think Of Us

ALAN BURNS and TRITON DIGITAL's "Radio Tomorrow" survey of consumers' perceptions of radio based in a sample of 41,252 showed radio used by 73% of respondents, well ahead of many other media; they said they don't use radio as much as other media for sports and weather information, or to find out what others are doing or for information.  However, radio is used to keep company, comfort, relax, energize, and improve the mood of users, and a majority would be "very disappointed if my favorite station went away." 

Mornings are a problem, and listening to recorded music on MP3s, CDs or records is mostly down.  PANDORA has 69.1% awareness with aided recall, but 15.1% of those people are listening to it in the past week.  "Customized streamers are not killing radio," BURNS said, noting that they are taking audience from other media as well.  As expected, the 18 and under and 18-34 demographics are less attached to radio than for 35+ listeners ("We do have an issue under 35," BURNS said)

Nearly half of the sample said that they listen to radio via streaming on computers and tablets; 23% listen to radio via streaming on their cell phones.  And 37.8% of respondents said they'd buy a specific cell phone model specifically if it had a radio chip.

For those who have Internet access in the car, 70.3% listen to their car radios, with all other options trailing by a wide margin.  The percentage is close to that for those without Net access in their cars.

The study also measured attitudes about the economy and politics, showing less than half thinking the economy will improve in 2013.  And respondents who identified themselves as advertising professionals were more pessimistic about the economy than others and less likely to listen as much to radio, but are positive about radio over all.

BURNS predicted that radio would, in the short term, remain strong with consumers but will struggle along with them in this economy; he recommended taking a long-term approach to adjust programming and emphasizing personalty, avoiding the "shut up and play the music" atmosphere that has risen from PPM analysis and resisting cutting back on talent development, and said that industry leaders should be devoting more resources -- and a PR genius -- to selling radio to agencies. 

He also suggested putting "actual young people" on the air talking about "young people issues," and exploiting its "big but personal brands," free distribution method, an free promotion for the digital side, but recognizing that digital is a different product with different capabilities, making radio streams skip-able and customizable and adding video.  "We're in media," he said.  "We can be in video and audio now."

In the 10:30a slot, the agenda also offered panels on cluster management, FCC election rules, selling Urban and Spanish-language formats, engineering tips, and streaming apps.

And the show is scheduled to close with the Radio Luncheon, hosted by TOM JOYNER and honoring CBS RADIO's DAN MASON with the National Radio Award.

Get more info at www.radioshowweb.com.

Marconi Award Winners Announced Last Night

As first reported by ALL ACCESS last night, The NAB handed out its 2012 NAB MARCONI RADIO AWARDS at a gala dinner in DALLAS THURSDAY night, with MELISSA ETHERIDGE performing.

The winners included:

Legendary Station: HUBBARD AC KSTP-F (KS95)/ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS
Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year: DIRECTV/PREMIERE's DAN PATRICK
Major Market Station of the Year: HUBBARD News WTOP/WASHINGTON
Large Market Station of the Year: LINCOLN FINANCIAL MEDIA Country KSON/SAN DIEGO
Medium Market Station of the Year: CLEAR CHANNEL Talk WHO-A/DES MOINES
Small Market Station of the Year: WEST VIRGINIA RADIO CORP. Top 40 WVAQ/MORGANTOWN, WV
Major Market Personality of the Year: CBS RADIO Sports WFAN-A/NEW YORK's MIKE FRANCESA
Large Market Personality of the Year: KSTP-F (KS95)'s MOON AND STACI
Medium Market Personality of the Year: WHO-A's JAN MICKELSON
Small Market Personality of the Year: ZIMMER Country KCLR-F (CLEAR 99)/COLUMBIA, MO's SCOTTY AND CARISSA IN THE MORNING
AC Station of the Year: JERRY LEE's AC WBEB (B101)/PHILADELPHIA
CHR Station of the Year: CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 KIIS/LOS ANGELES
Country Station of the Year: CBS RADIO Country WYCD/DETROIT
News/Talk Station of the Year: WTOP
Oldies Station of the Year: CBS RADIO Classic Hits WOGL/PHILADELPHIA
Religious Station of the Year: SALEM Contemporary Christian KLTY/DALLAS
Rock Station of the Year: ALPHA BROADCASTING Triple A KINK/PORTLAND
Spanish Station of the Year: CBS RADIO Spanish AC KMVK (MEGA 107.5)/DALLAS
Sports Station of the Year: ENTERCOM Sports WEEI-A-F/BOSTON
Urban Station of the Year: YMF Urban AC WBLS/NEW YORK

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