NAB And RAB's Virtual Radio Show 2020 Gets Underway

Starts Today

The NAB and RAB's virtual RADIO SHOW conference got underway TODAY (10/5) with a series of streaming sessions beginning at 2p (ET).

The agenda opened with a "CEO Town Hall" with CUMULUS' MARY BERNER, ENTERCOM's DAVID FIELD, and iHEARTMEDIA's BOB PITTMAN discussing the radio industry's future, moderated by NBC NEWS and MSNBC's STEPHANIE RUHLE. The talk ranged from the recovery and live events to new technology (BERNER invoking a hockey analogy: "We want to be where the puck is going"; FIELD noting that "we're moving significantly faster than we did before") and the growth of podcasting (PITTMAN touting audio's benefit for consumers who have "run out of time for their eyes, but they have time for their ears" and have interests in both deeper dives into topics and time-shifting traditional radio). BERNER, discussing the future of radio, said "we're hamstrung" by "archaic" regulations restricting the industry's ability to further consolidate; FIELD agreed that the ownership rules "continue to be reflective of a different era," and PITTMAN added that policy traditionally lags technology.  The session ended with the honoring of PERRY PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING COMPANY Founder/Pres. RUSSELL M. PERRY with the National Radio Award.

A panel on podcasting moderated by iHEARTPODCAST NETWORK's CONAL BYRNE with iHEART"s MANGESH HATTIKUDUR, CUMULUS' ANYA GRUNDMANN, and TENDERFOOT TV's DONALD ALBRIGHT covered the panelists' careers and move into podcasting, monetization, and the influx of A-list celebrities into podcasting.

Later in the afternoon, CHERRY CREEK RADIO CEO JONATHAN BREWSTER will chat with "SMALL BUSINESS REVOLUTION" host AMANDA BRINKMAN, followed by "LIVING CORPORATE" owner ZACH NUNN discussing diversity and systemic change. And the RAB's JEFF SCHMIDT moderated a panel to close MONDAY's proceedings out, hosting THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP Pres. BETH MANN, KZIA, INC. Top 40 KZIA (Z102.9)-'80a KZIA-HD2-K236AA-K235BE-Sports KGYM-A-K272GB-K292FZ-K298BM (THE GYM)/CEDAR RAPIDS-IOWA CITY, IA CEO JULIE HEIN, and WOOF BOOM RADIO Pres. J CHAPMAN in a discussion of the pandemic's effects on their stations and how they handled adversity, including the derecho that devastated HEIN's area.

Find out more, register, and watch by clicking here. The event has sessions planned through FRIDAY (10/9).

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