WWRS 2017 Friday: Digital, Social, Hit Music, And More

In Hollywood

The WORLDWIDE RADIO SUMMIT concluded its run at the W HOTEL HOLLYWOOD TODAY (5/5) with a full slate of panels and presentations covering several aspects of the radio and music industries.  WWRS drew a record attendance for the three-day event, which began with a welcome party at the HARD ROCK CAFÉ on WEDNESDAY and continued with a full day of sessions on THURSDAY.  In addition, the event included the announcement of the winners of this year's WWRS Industry Awards and BENZTOWN's Iron Imager winner (see separate stories).

Prioritizing Social And Digital

CUMULUS VP/Social and ALL ACCESS columnist LORI LEWIS hosted a session on digital media, social media, and how to select which to concentrate on, accentuating that nobody can be excellent and effective on so many platforms.  

"Stop being everywhere and find where you can truly create the most impact," LEWIS said in setting up the panel, which BEASLEY Active Rock WRIF/DETROIT PD MARK PENNINGTON opened with the observation that his job needs him to concentrate on programming first and deal with the other pieces as they come.  He noted that his station decided a few years ago that video would grow and put resources into doing easy-to-produce video for that reason.

LEWIS displayed an example of prioritization used at Classic Rock KQRS/MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, which decided to make FACEBOOK a daily priority, video and podcast weekly, TWITTER, e-mail, and texting "in the moment," and INSTAGRAM rarely.

MEDIA.INFO director and ALL ACCESS "RadioFuturescope" columnist JAMES CRIDLAND noted that radio stations are getting more clever sharing content through social media, using that to reach P2 and P3 listeners.  "Don't use content only once," CRIDLAND advised, suggesting that stations should get more value from content than a single broadcast.  

ABC RADIO VP/GM STEVE JONES pointed to THE NEW YORK TIMES' success in converting from a print-driven operation to a rapidly growing digital service, concentrating on improving and developing the content. He cited how NPR has managed to use existing content into a very successful morning podcast through creative repurposing, and discussed how ABC NEWS uses social media, with TWITTER more suited for news headlines and bulletins as well as podcast promotion, and FACEBOOK for more extensive interaction.

SPOTIFY is the primary factor affecting radio in SWEDEN, said SVERIGES RADIO AB Head of International Relations and RADIODAYS EUROPE Co-Founder ANDERS HELD, and he admitted that his company first thought of the streaming music service a a competitor, but has reached out to put some of its own spoken word content on the platform, extending its brand to SPOTIFY users.

FUTURI MEDIA National Account Manager KIM JOHNSON said that radio has a "great opportunity with FACEBOOK Live," which she said helps radio, which took a hit when FACEBOOK changed its algorithm, get back to the top of the news feed.

JONES also discussed the difficulty of selling podcasts to advertisers before there are numbers to sell, using broadcast inventory both to bolster the value to advertisers and to raise awareness of the podcast (in his example, ROBIN ROBERTS' podcast). He added that DAN HARRIS is targeting the top podcast hosts to guest on his podcast and vice versa, helping promote his own show to the other hosts' audience.

Self-Driving Cars And Radio

DMR/INTERACTIVE Pres./COO ANDREW CURRAN offered a mini-keynote focusing on the connected car, with a video showing what riding in a driverless car will be like and noting that much of the autonomous car technology is already being implemented in currently-available vehicle.  Thirty companies, CURRAN said, have autonomous car permits from CALIFORNIA, indicating the rapid pace of development and competition, and he placed the current state of available autonomous cars is roughly midway towards total autonomy; he also predicted considerable activity tied to the 2020 SUMMER Olympics in TOKYO.

Bringing the presentation full circle, CURRAN noted that the designer who created the autonomous car video, who now works at FORD, included AM, FM, and XM buttons on the dash screen in the video.  He counseled that retaining radio's primary place in the new car environment will require continued engagement with listeners, offering examples of promotions towards that end, and estimated that driverless cars offer a "billion dollar opportunity for radio."

Imaging In A Metered World

A panel introduced by vCREATIVE's JINNY LADERER and moderated by iHEARTMEDIA VP/Imaging KELLY DOHERTY looked at production in the age of the PPM, the quest to find a compromise between creative and the data.  

CBS RADIO Alternative KROQ/LOS ANGELES Imager and ROGERS RADIO Producer/Voiceover TREVOR SHAND said that PPM has set a new group of rules that should be inspiring producers to break them, but opined that "all of the stations sound the same" now, unlike the '90s heyday of radio production "heroes."  BENZTOWN Co-Founder/CEO ANDY SANNEMANN agreed but noted that the environment has changed, especially with imagers needing to produce for more stations; SHAND added that while there are better tools for production now, today's imagers are sometimes less creative in using them.

How, DOHERTY asked, do you hurry up and be creative and still be effective?  iHEARTMEDIA Top 40 WHTZ (Z100) and Top 40/Rhythmic WKTU/NEW YORK Creative Services Director STAXX suggested that production people need to be having fun and getting feedback from others in the building.  THE MIX GROUP President JASON GARTE said that he puts being brief last, focusing instead on the quality of the content even if it runs longer.  "When you get it and it worked, it's all worth it," GARTE advised.

MEGATRAX/IMGR Creative Director CHRIS NICOLL said that companies like his offer help to speed up the creative process but not replace local imagers; he pointed out that while local imagers can search for and find pieces to use, they don't necessarily have time to do so.  SANNEMANN echoed the sentiment, saying that the companies can offer quality work parts, which SHAND likened to LEGO blocks.

A sample of SHAND's production was played, emphasizing brevity; he suggested that with the PPM, the days of three-minute song parodies and long bits between songs are over.

Finding Hits

While a midday panel moderated by MOBILIUM GLOBAL's RALPH SIMON was billed as looking at how the growth of playlist-driven listening in streaming media has affected radio, the panel instead mostly focused on music programming processes and related topics in general.

iHEARTMEDIA Top 40 KIIS/LOS ANGELES APD/MD BEATA MURPHY went into some detail on how she uses local LOS ANGELES streaming numbers as well as sales figures and artists' social media reach in programming, and said that she looks at playlists on streaming as if they are competing stations; CUMULUS VP/Programming CAT THOMAS emphasized that the key for him is "people," namely his network of programmers across the country listening to and picking songs, but he also looks at streaming numbers, M-scores, and video action and encourages local programmers to look at local sales.  THOMAS also pointed to personality and storytelling as an advantage radio has over SPOTIFY and other streamers.

7DIGITAL Chief Commercial Officer ED KERSHAW warned programmers to beware of inaccurate metadata (with an example of how "Stairway to Heaven" has a 2014 release date in some versions' metadata, and how format definitions for songs can be subjective); his company, he said, is trying to fix "the supply chain mess."

SIMON quizzed RAIN and ACCURADIO Founder/CEO KURT HANSON about the ACCURADIO platform, and MUSICMASTER Founder JOE KNAPP described how he developed his music scheduled software.

Pickin' And Grinnin'

The WWRS awards luncheon was followed by the annual music test pitting audience members against a panel of radio and music industry pros in a hit-pickin' contest.  SAT BISLA, President of A&R WORLDWIDE and co-chief of the WWRS, moderated the panel, which included WARNER MUSIC GROUP's ATON BEN-HORIN, SIRIUSXM's KID KELLY, COLUMBIA's LEE LEIPSNER, 5FM/SOUTH AFRICA's MARIKA MALLIARIS, RADIO X/LONDON's MIKE WALSH, EMMIS Urban AC WBLS/NEW YORK's SKIP DILLARD, and BMG's THOMAS SCHERER.  The audience and panelists used wireless "smart-dial" meters from STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS RESEARCH, INC. (whose EVP HAL ROOD set up the segment) to register their opinions, which were compared to the panel's picks and research from SOUNDOUT.

Up Close And Personal

The value of live music as a radio feature was examined in an afternoon WWRS session moderated by RADIO X/LONDON's MIKE WALSH.   ENTERCOM/MIAMI-FORT LAUDERDALE Director/Marketing & Special Events VON FREEMAN asserted that "radio IS an events business... we do it every weekend... yet we don't think we're in the events business."  He added that major brands are moving money from television into experiential marketing.  

EMMIS Programming/Digital VP and Top 40/Rhythmic KPWR (POWER 106)/LOS ANGELES' JIMMY STEAL noted that SPOTIFY and PANDORA are getting into the events business, indicating how important the category is; he said that events help differentiate radio and give listeners the chance to experience the brands first-hand, and offer a chance for artists to connect with and thank listeners using the radio station's channel.

SANTA MONICA COLLEGE Triple A KCRW/SANTA MONICA-LOS ANGELES MD/Host JASON BENTLEY, whose station is noncommercial, cited events as a way for KCRW to serve its community, and some to raise money for the station.

The discussion covered booking acts, navigating artist endorsements, and various ways to get artists to do extra things for the station and event.

Wrapping Up With The Talent Panel

The annual closing session featuring top air talent included iHEARTMEDIA Top 40 KHKS (106.1 KISS FM)/DALLAS morning "KIDD KRADDICK SHOW" co-host KELLIE RASBERRY, syndicated BROOKE AND JUBAL co-host BROOKE FOX, SPANISH BROADCASTING SYSTEM Spanish Hot AC KXOL (MEGA 96.3)/LOS ANGELES morning host MELISSA (LA POPIS) RIOS, iHEARTMEDIA AC WNIC/DETROIT morning host JAY TOWERS, and iHEARTMEDIA Alternative WWDC (DC101)/WASHINGTON morning host ELLIOT SEGAL. 

The conversation, moderated by THE REYNOLDS GROUP President STEVE REYNOLDS, covered the benefits of appearing on TV, getting attention from local TV, using social media to grow your audience, control and trust issues, and other topics.

The event came to a festive close with a cocktail party sponsored by ABC RADIO featuring performances by LOS5 and TERRENCE WILDE.

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