Back in April, one of “the moments” at Kurt Hanson’s RAIN conference was the statement by Pandora’s Doug Sterne that while national ad dollars were the company’s “low hanging fruit,” the big focus would soon be on local advertising revenue.
This struck me as a concern because as Pandora tops the 60 million registered listeners threshold and continues to be the darling of Internet radio fans everywhere, this incursion into local market ad dollars could not be ignored.
As we have posited here on numerous occasions, broadcasters who continue to perceive the competition as each other are missing the rapidly growing gorilla in the room. In Inside Radio yesterday, Sterne provided more details of Pandora’s plan to usurp local radio.
With sales offices in the Bay Area, NYC, LA, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, and Atlanta, Pandora is aggressively chasing local ad dollars. And as Sterne points out, Pandora’s numbers no longer classify the service as a niche player. Ando Media notes that Pandora now accounts for nearly half of all Internet radio listening, similar findings to what we saw this past winter in Technology Survey VI.
Some of Pandora’s sales reps are coming from radio and other local media who most certainly know their way around the retail and agency sectors in their markets.
As Sterne reminded IR, “We’re not focused on putting anyone out of business.”
And the check is in the mail.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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