RCS Worldwide Pres./CEO Philippe Generali: "Great programmers are not afraid of data ... but this never replaces the creativity."

You have a unique global perspective on radio. Can you highlight the key strengths of radio that transcend language and geography?

Philippe: In various countries, radio is measured differently. Electronic measurement (as in the top U.S. markets) is spreading slowly around the world, but most audience estimates rely on computer-assisted interviews. Some countries prefer cume as an indicator of success, some like audience share, some measure reach weekly and other monthly. Whatever the method, the universal characteristic of radio is its unmatched and massive reach. Advertisers can't get to 80% or 90% of the population quickly with anything but radio. Not even the Internet can do that.

As far as the content is concerned, a universal key to success is personality. The most successful stations on the planet all have strong personalities on the air. And a great talent is always authentic. You can't fake best entertainers behind the mic.

With RCS having brought computer-based scheduling to radio 40 years ago, what's the role technology continues to play in creating great radio?

Philippe: I remember installing Selector in countries opening up to radio and sometimes the first PC a radio would buy was for music scheduling, before anything else! Today, computers are everywhere, of course, including the console that in many cases is just a keyboard with faders. But I think this is a transition period. In the near future, technology equipment will retreat from the station premises. Cloud-based services such as the ones RCS is working on, will allow everyone to program and play good music, great news or exciting interviews from anywhere, in real time. No need for rack rooms and their heavy maintenance, no need for redundancy ... all the technology will be in the Cloud and to run a show, the only thing a talent will need is a username and password. Logon from anywhere and voila: You are on the air with the most up-to-date automation system at your fingertips!

How do great programmers balance the science of technology and data insights with the art of live performance?

Philippe: Great programmers are not afraid of data. They embrace it and they do their best to understand it, sometimes with the help of consultants, sometimes with their entire team and often by themselves. But this never replaces the creativity. No music data is created without a song being played first. Mscore and Shazam can only exist when a programmer decides to give an artist its fair share of spins. Mediabase can't tell you if a song is going up or down unless it is aired. This is where gut feeling comes in play.

As far as audience measurement, it is fantastic and comforting to know that today, with services like Audio Overnight from Nielsen and Media Monitors for example, you can find out the very next day if an on-air feature had an instantaneous impact on the audience, positive or negative. We've seen NBA drafts create huge meter bumps on Sport stations or the release of the Mueller report bring public stations to the front rank in a market. The last hours of WPLJ/New York, when it signed off after 40 years, show that it finally became the most listened-to in the moments before the lights went off. But at the end of the day, it takes talent and not necessarily data to build a great brand. And the brand is definitely the most precious asset a station can have.

What are some insights and best practices that North American radio could borrow from the global radio community?

Philippe: As far as programming is concerned, the maturity and competitiveness of U.S. radio makes it the one that others around the world look up to. RCS sells its software products in 115 countries but every one of our tens of thousands of PD customers knows and revers stations like Z100 or KIIS-FM. On the technology side, international radio groups are more likely to be early adopters of technology.

In fact, when I meet international radio CEOs and heads of technology, they are always very interested in the future, where we are taking RCS in the next five years. By contrast, a more frequently heard question in the U.S. would be: "Who uses this already?"

With the amount of data that's now available, it's impossible to consume everything. How do programmers maintain a focus on their dashboard of key metrics, while also paying attention to the new tools and insights that continue to emerge?

Philippe: An eye on the road, an eye on the gauges, an eye on the rearview mirror ... oh wait, that's too many eyes! It is indeed crazy to keep all these plates spinning (on-air, online, streaming, events, promo, artist relations, etc.) for a PD. And everything has some metric attached to it by which their work is evaluated. I know PDs - brand managers - work pretty much 24/7 nowadays and even that sometimes is not enough. One thing is for sure: You need solid tools and always on services to help you make decisions in a fraction of second because there is not time to waste.

Radio continues to do more with better. That seems to capture the impact of innovation and technology, doesn't it?

Philippe: Technology is not a means to an end. We believe it helps people be smarter, work more efficiently and focus on what no artificial intelligence program will ever be able to do: creativity. GSelector never picked a song to play on the air, but always helped the greatest PD at the largest radio stations around the world achieve consistency, variety and balance in their programming. Zetta automation never pronounced a word on the air, but it takes care of cueing and playing music, spots, promos, imaging and everything in perfect segues so that talent only has to think about what to say and when to say it. We've only seen the beginning of radio transformation thanks to technology. "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades..."

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