Thursday At The 2017 Radio Show: Comcast Chat, User Experience, Regulation, And The Buildup To The Marconis

Thursday

By PERRY MICHAEL SIMON in AUSTIN: The 2017 RADIO SHOW, conducted by the NAB and RAB, continued at the JW MARRIOTT in AUSTIN THURSDAY (9/7) with the annual Advertiser Breakfast and a full slate of sessions culminating in the MARCONI AWARDS gala and the post-MARCONI bash held by ALL ACCESS and ABC RADIO.

To Xfinity And Beyond

This year's edition of the Advertiser Breakfast featured COMCAST VP/Media Sciences PANKAJ KUMAR, Division VP/Marketing and Communications LARRY SCHWEBER, and SPARK FOUNDRY SVP/Managing Director KIM THOMPSON discussing the cable giant's radio marketing efforts with RAB Pres./CEO ERICA FARBER.

After a discussion of COMCAST's business and the process of bringing its products to market, KUMAR noted that radio does "really well" in his research on marketing effectiveness, saying, "It's an important part of the media mix.  As long as people are listening to radio, radio will be an important part of the media mix."  THOMPSON agreed, adding "it's time for you guys to get the credit where credit is due."

The conversation included looks at "big data" and how COMCAST used radio to get pre-hurricane emergency messages out (SCHWEBER saying "there was only one option... we called a local radio station in MIAMI to help us (with producing and airing a spot)."  In a presentation, SCHWEBER outlined how the company uses live-read on-air radio personality endorsements ("that's gold... I can't get that on TV"), radio personalities' social media ("radio has gone beyond radio"), and sports radio ("you can't promote sports without sports radio") in its marketing mix.  "It's quick, it's organic, and it's expanding to social," SCHWEBER concluded about radio.

The breakfast also featured a performance by JACK INGRAM.

Best Foot Forward

At MEGATRAX's panel on improving radio's user experience, co-moderator SEAN ROSS noted that in many cases, radio is not in control of its user interface, such as in cars. But the panelists offered instruction on optimizing user experiences with strong brands and connecting with listeners.

THE OFFICE OF EXPERIENCE Co-Founder CARLOS MANALO outlined a process for designing user experiences that followed the standard scientific process, from understanding users through developing hypotheses and testing through "launch and learn." He took the audience through case studies involving clients HARLEY DAVIDSON and GRAINGER, including how research led to changing GRAINGER's website from a straightforward search and ordering layout to "telling a story" in the middle, plus mobile optimization that added bar code reading capability. He advised radio stations to embrace change, find a throughline to counter fragmentation, find differentiators, and give the audience the right message at the right time.

EMMIS' CHASE RUPE, FEDERATED MEDIA's JAMES DERBY, and ENTERCOM AUSTIN's NIKKI NITE stressed the importance of strong brands, and DERBY added that voice control will "without question" be the way users interact with stations in the future, including in the car (the touchscreen interface of which, he pointed out, can be confusing at present).   And TOWNSQUARE MEDIA's KURT JOHNSON said that the challenge is that programmers and creative people at stations "wear many hats" but his company stresses a "maniacal" concentration on the user experience.

NITE and DERBY addressed the pros and cons of voice controlled devices and making the skills too complex when people just want to access their desired content as quickly as possible, prompting ROSS (who co-moderated with IMGR's CHRIS NICOLL) to offer, "nobody wants to talk to the airline customer service department phone tree." But DERBY noted that the generation just graduating college is accustomed to an on-demand world and radio needs to meet their expectations.

The Rules (May) No Longer Apply

NAB Associate General Counsel, Legal & Regulatory Affairs LARRY WALKE led a panel on regulation, or, more precisely, the FCC's new deregulatory stance.

FCC Media Bureau Chief PETER DOYLE noted the "amazing speed" with which Chairman AJIT PAI has taken control of the agency, referring to PAI's "ambitious schedule" as previewed by the Chairman in his speech at the Radio Luncheon on WEDNESDAY; "there's much fertile ground" for eliminating unnecessary or "silly" rules, with the main studio rule being on the list, DOYLE said.  "It's going to be quite the next year," DOYLE predicted.

EMMIS EVP/General Counsel/Secretary J. SCOTT ENRIGHT praised PAI's aggressiveness and added his view that rules like the need to publish a public notice in a newspaper of general circulation or the compilation of quarterly issues/programs lists are among the rules needing to be eliminated; BEASLEY VP/Engineering/CTO MICHAEL COONEY said that eliminating the main studio rule would save his company a lot of money, but an audience questioner objected, asking how a company can serve a market it has never seen, and DOYLE pointed to the upcoming rulemaking (DOYLE initially said it would be dealt with at the SEPTEMBER meeting, but later said that he had misspoken) and comment period as an opportunity for input.

Also on the list of reforms that will be proposed, DOYLE said, is the legal ID requirement.  ENRIGHT said that his company would stop doing the top-of-the-hour ID "before the ink is dry on the order" but that the stations repeatedly try to make sure listeners know what station they're listening to.

The panel also extolled the benefits of the AM revitalization process; DOYLE said that the singleton list for translator applications will not be released in OCTOBER, but will be issued in the upcoming months.

What It Takes To Excel In Radio

A panel of some of radio's top executives covered topics like management styles, corporate culture, dealing with change, strategic thinking, and more.  Moderator ERICA FARBER of the RAB was joined by BEASLEY's CAROLINE BEASLEY, ENTERCOM's WEEZIE KRAMER, HUBBARD's GINNY MORRIS, and NRG MEDIA's MARY QUASS for the session.

Discussing the merger of ENTERCOM and CBS RADIO's cultures, KRAMER said "you gotta do it one bite at a time, because it's huge... it's a lot of unknown."  The companies, she said, have created teams with members from both companies to address the transition, trying to achieve "a culture of appreciation from day one... a very clear vision and strategy."  MORRIS advised those facing a merger or ownership change to "keep an open mind" and look for a place to fit into the new operation.

KRAMER responded to a question about strategic thinking with her personal version of strategic thinking, labeled with mnemonics like "Smoke Free In 2003"; MORRIS answered a question about necessary sales skills with the prescription of "flexibility, curiosity, and a willingness to expand your own tool kit" to address clients' needs, while QUASS focused on asking oneself what your goal is (earning a down payment for a house, making more money to achieve a particular objective) and building a framework around that.

Regarding sales management, KRAMER suggested that sales managers, in evaluating their own performance, ask themselves whether those who work for you would pay to be coached by you.  "If not," she said, "you have work to do."

Asked what advice they would give themselves if they were just starting out now, MORRIS said "be bold, and always remember that we teach people how to treat us"; QUASS offered that "women tend to underestimate their ability to have the right answer... we need more people who are outgoing and take chances" but, she added, if she was starting again, she would do nothing different; KRAMER advised to "take care of yourself better.  Be kind to yourself... find a better balance of life."

Got Apps?

jācAPPS' presentation in the RADIO SHOW Marketplace covered the many ways radio stations can reach listeners through a variety of devices.  PAUL JACOBS took the audience through a comparison of the "good old days" of radio to today, when listeners are effectively their own program directors; "we're not in the broadcasting business anymore," JACOBS declared. 'We're in the content creation and distribution business."

JACOBS showed the RADIO SHOW audience the "media pyramid" familiar to TECHSURVEY observers to demonstrate the changes in media consumption and differences between demographics; he also showed statistics demonstrating the move of audio listening away from AM/FM radios to other devices and the importance of supplying content through apps on all devices ("appeverywhere"), which, he said, PANDORA already does well (including an app for SAMSUNG refrigerators).  The presentation also covered smartphone addiction and how radio station apps have not gained traction yet, with over half of radio users asked if they have the mobile app for the station sending the survey saying they didn't know.  

In addition, JACOBS offered some "best practices" for radio apps, including making unique apps reflective of the station's individual brand, offering contests and rewards to increase engagement, and customization and personalization (with WTOP/WASHINGTON's newly-revamped app as an example).  He also reviewed the Smart TV category and the opportunity for radio stations to create apps that include not only audio but video as well (although Smart TV apps don't offer the opportunity for interactive ads).

And the presentation went to the "critical and essential to our future" topic of the connected car, with JACOBS noting the confusion between competing in-dash systems and the APPLE CarPlay and ANDROID Auto solutions which "make the radio disappear," making having a dedicated radio station app more essential.

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