The ways in which consumers access entertainment and information while they drive is the foundation of our DASH Conference. Our recent get-together in Detroit a couple weeks back featured 18 different keynotes, panels, and presentations devoted to the intersection of radio and cars.
But of course, the smartphone is a star player in this conversation. As John Ellis pointed out in yesterday’s blog post, loyalty to an iPhone or a Galaxy Note often trumps a consumer’s connection to car brands.
As Apple and Google move forward to provide a seamless, familiar dashboard experience, apps have become a powerful content source. And there’s no more striking example of this then in the areas of mapping, traffic, and navigation.
While OEMs (car manufacturers) continue to glean profits from marketing their in-dash GPS features, consumers are rapidly learning that mobile apps like Google Maps and WAZE provide these same services, and with even more real-time traffic conditions.
This has impact on what the car makers will ultimately offer, but it also gets right into radio’s grille. For decades, AM and FM stations have capitalized on traffic jams, jackknifed semis, orange barrels, and other daily commuting gnarliness to provide information that has always attracted mega sponsorship dollars.
But that’s about to change, just as radio’s school closing model – reading long alphabetical lists of area schools – is no longer effective in a world where this info is available online and via text messaging. Larry Rosin made this compelling case at the 2014 DASH Conference, pointing out that radio’s days as the primary source of traffic information may be numbered.
Now there’s evidence that this trend may be starting in one of the nation’s worst (or best) markets for traffic info, Washington, D.C. Last week, public radio giant WAMU announced it was ending its morning drive traffic reporting platform. The explanation?
“In a world now filled with smart phone map services, GPS devices in cars, and traffic apps, there is better, more up to date information available to our listeners than what we could provide.”
It is also true that D.C. radio features one of the best radio traffic reporting operations in the U.S. – WTOP. While many local residents may not remember the name of their Congressman, they all know that WTOP presents “Traffic and weather on the 8’s.”
And the station goes above and beyond what other large market operations feature. Their traffic system was featured back in 2014 by Roger Lanctot, automotive analyst at Strategy Analytics. In a blog post, Roger averred that WTOP’s traffic – mixing data and live on-the-scene reporting – was superior to the Waze app.
A few months later, WTOP announced a deal with WAZE making for an interesting marriage of a strong, local broadcast brand and an up-and-coming traffic techie app. Their director of traffic operations, Jim Battagliese, noted that the Waze partnership “allows us to get information on all area roadways, including those with few public resources. Waze is another tool in our arsenal to help D.C. commuters, who have one of the worst commutes in the country.”
The management team at WAMU may have recognized that while technology is changing the way consumers garner traffic information, competing with a traffic institution like WTOP with occasional report during breaks in NPR’s “Morning Edition” is an adequate solution for most commuters.
And that brings us to the creeping reality facing so many broadcast radio stations across America. With the exception of stations like WTOP, WCBS, KYW, and WWJ, traffic is not only becoming endangered content, it is also a tune-out threat, especially for stations known for playing music. A couple of traffic reports on a Classic Rock or Hot AC station in the morning may retain sponsorship dollars, but will increasingly fail to provide added value to most commuters in the listening audience. There’s no reason to wait for the 8s or randomly scheduled traffic reports when even better, customized road and commuting info is available on a smartphone that is Bluetoothed into the dash.
Like so many other programming and content elements that radio offers, the disruptive forces of technology, often in the form of websites and mobile apps, require new thought, strategies, and tactics. They compel us to question existing models, recalculate their value proposition, and retest the validity of content that’s been with us for decades.
Damn that traffic jam!
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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Very timely observation. I agree with you, traffic reports are less important now than ever. It sort of reminds me of the 70s and 80s when so many stations spent half an hour or longer early in the morning doing the farm reports. I can’t tell you how many times I used the words barrows and gilts on the air and had no idea what I was talking about. Technology in the way of direct delivery of market information to farmers made those reports obsolete and unnecessary. Traffic is about to fall into the same category.
Just looking at my phone, I have Google maps, Waze, and get push notifications from two local TV stations whenever anything close to a traffic problem happens. Mind you, those push notifications are probably a bit on the side of overkill, but it’s still another way to get traffic information and it is pretty frictionless. Add to that the fact I can access the same traffic cameras that the local TV stations and the traffic reporters in a city 350 miles away from me can see, and the need to listen to six minute spot breaks, traffic reports that have to be kept extremely short so all the 15 second spots around them will air, and hit only the tip of the iceberg regarding traffic information and the concept of waiting for a radio station to push a traffic report seems almost absurd.
As we move to the “I want the information I need it right now and only that information” world, the combination of technology and use habits are converging to put another linchpin of local radio into the list of optional, not essential things that radio stations can provide. I’ve said for years that the key to winning in radio is being live in local, but technology is taking away the need for yet another local service. And don’t get me started on radio, severe weather, and any time after 6 PM.
Local, useful, and relevant content is about all that most local radio stations have left to differentiate themselves. The smart broadcaster has to figure out what content they can provide that no smart phone, TV station, or highway message board can’t duplicate or do better. Sadly, the list of options continues to shrink.
Mark, you frame it out nicely. Once again, I have to give Larry Rosin credit for raising this issue at the DASH Conference last year, filled with execs from both automotive and radio. The WTOP model suggests that with innovation and investment, there is a way. But simply airing random traffic reports for areas that are nowhere near a driver’s commute in order to grab advertising dollars is a model that will rapidly become outmoded. Thanks for the comment and for reading our blog.
“In the early eighties I worked with David Saperstein, helping to establish traffic reports in a non-traffic report world. To say it was like pulling whale’s teeth is not an understatement. [It took over six years for traffic reports to be an accepted form of programming.]
“Radio station managers in music formatted stations couldn’t see the connection between airing traffic reports and an audience that could respond immediately.
“Talking with agencies and advertisers proved even less fruitful with a refrain that sounded something like this, “What am I supposed to do with a ten-second commercial?” Mr. Saperstein was talking the future to people who were watching their backs, and it was a tough sell.”
The above words appeared in an article I wrote December 17, 2004. Its title: “Traffic Reports Online – Don’t Laugh.” (https://www.audiographics.com/agd/122712-1.htm)
Like the dashboard interruption about to be felt in radio, the demise of traffic has long been known but strongly resisted by the industry.
Ken, the economic concerns are real. Radio makes considerable money on traffic reports, although in a market like Detroit (or NYC or SF or LA), the established “traffic & weather at the…” stations have a decided advantage. As the year winds down, it’s a good time for broadcasters to assess their unique assets versus those that are being duplicated or executed better by disruptors. Thanks, as always, for commenting and contributing.
I checked my phone before I left work yesterday and Google maps gave me the scoop about traffic jams and the best route home. A few seconds on the Weather Channel app gave me what I needed to know for the next couple of days. The two minute ‘local break’ on an Ann Arbor area NPR station gave me two minutes of both and wasted valuable ‘local’ radio minutes for something I didn’t need. Looks like many others are starting to feel the same way.
Thanks, Alan. There may be a trend in the making. Appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Only a few stations invest in the resources that allow them to beat the current technology. Too many music stations just want to “say” they have traffic reports, which are pre-recorded and given an artificial time limit no matter what traffic or weather conditions may be at the time. Any person driving a car need only look around to see if the traffic report they are hearing is real or memorex. And stations like WTOP smartly partner with new technology to stay ahead, always ahead. These stations will still thrive in congested, ever-sprawling urban markets.
Jim, thanks for your perspective as someone who has given more thought to traffic reporting than any of us. Like everything else, it’s about investment and commitment. Thanks again.
I’ve been involved with transportation for quite some time. First as one of the original Shadow Traffic reporters in NYC back in 1979 and then working in both the public and private sectors for a couple of decades. Today, I still do traffic reports one day a week on stations such as WINS, but the rest of my time is spent focused on transportation communications. You mentioned Larry Rosin’s comments last year at DASH. Shortly after the conference I went to his office to ask him about what he had to say. You might enjoy hearing my interview with Larry about the future of traffic reporting.
https://transportationradio.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/larry-rosin-on-the-future-of-radio-traffic-reports/
Bernie, thanks for including the link to the interview. Larry’s presentation at DASH last year was groundbreaking to say the least. Appreciate you reading our blog and contributing.
I could probably pontificate for some time on this subject, having worked with most of the providers at one point over the past 30+ years. I agree, the all-news stations, like WTOP, do take it seriously, which is refreshing for a traffic guy. The traffic reporters also need to make it interesting, not just ramble through a list of roads, but explain what’s going on and why it’s causing such a problem. They need to tell the story; something an app can’t do, at least not today. The apps are getting better though every day. Just be careful of the ones that rely on historical data and not real time data – you’ll see this on holidays, like Veterans Day, when you’ll get a lot of false delays – delays that appear on the map, but aren’t actually there when you drive the route. Bottom line, traffic is not an exact science and the technology continues to evolve. I don’t think “traffic on the 8’s” will end anytime soon, as you still need the human element to interpret all the technology and explain what’s going on and what you can and can’t do – something an app can’t do. At least not today. You still get that on WTOP and, by taking the traffic in-house, we have the ability to interrupt programming at any time, plus send out text and e-mail alerts when traffic gets really crazy. In DC, we call that a daily occurrence.
As pointed out in our post, Jim heads up traffic for WTOP. Jim, many thanks for contributing to this important conversation. WTOP has raised the bar on traffic (as pointed out in the Roger Lanctot article) and has earned its stripes as a local authority for this information. As your comment points out, stations can’t mail it in – your info is either accurate and in context with people’s lives, or they’re gone. Appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your behind-the-scenes insight.
Radio needs to quit “giving up” and become aggressive in marketing and promoting their benefits, individually and as a medium.
“The beginning of the end for radio traffic reports?” I say “hell no”! Do it well, or don’t do it at all. But don’t throw in the towel.
Sounds like you guys have given up to me. Go sell mattresses.
Bill, sorry to give you that impression. And we almost always take the “You can do it” approach. In this case – not unlike school closings – it’s essential that radio operators grasp the changing ways that consumers are accessing this information. WTOP has melded its traditional reports with new technology to come up with a hybrid that works. You can read about their technique in the comments above. We applaud their efforts and wish that more stations would embrace technology to provide better service. Thanks for your comment.
I have been hearing for some time that traffic reporters will soon be obsolete. However, the problem is not with technology taking over, it’s how it is used and how it is delivered for the listener on the radio – and how well the commitment is to sell the product. In any “Intro to Radio” class, we are told our medium is to “Inform & Entertain.” So many times I hear traffic reports I personally want to turn off. Fortunately I have been blessed with PD’s on stations like 1010 WINS & WABC in NYC, WKXW in NJ and WRQX in Washington who have allowed me to push the envelope and make the traffic fun and even edgy. Listeners become familiar with traffic reporters, something station sales can sell (along with a quality product) – but stations have to make the commitment to sell the reports.
At a time when radio companies cry “revenue,” traffic reports can not only be that source of desperately needed revenue, but the reporter can also be a personality, and a selling point, for a station who have less on-air voices than they once did.
Bottom line – while an app can be good, it can’t talk to you, it can’t engage you, and it tell you there aren’t enough toll lanes open at a bridge, and it can’t feel your pain of sitting in a traffic jam. You still need the human – the reporter – to interpret the cameras and sensor data and explain what’s happening in human terms and “The McKay Way,” how to get around it – something an app can’t do. And – stations seriously need to monetize it – something I’ve talked to sales teams about before and would do anytime if asked!
Jeff, this is a great comment, providing true insight about traffic reporting as craft.
Like everything in radio that’s memorable and sticky, it’s about personality and a show biz approach. Thanks for the timely reminder.
Radio has been great at reinventing itself over time. That’s one reason why it remains a source for valuable, immediate gratification because of radio’s professionally curated/created content.
Today’s news is not just that there are more entertainment and information choices out there. In addition, the digital world changes rapidly over time. That change means listener’s habitual patterns can change quickly, too, at a time that too many in the radio industry think that what we were doing 15 years ago still defines what radio is today. It doesn’t really matter what our opinions are about what radio is or isn’t. If a listener uses Pandora or Stitcher in a way they once used broadcast radio, they’re telling us that those choices are, indeed, radio.
For the 1010 WINSes of the world, traffic may still make sense. But music intensive stations can’t compete with Waze when it comes to traffic. Being local is important, but not if a feature is live, local and unimportant. That doesn’t necessarily mean shut up and play more music. It could mean it’s time to consider our relationship with our audiences, and how we fit into today’s landscape … and what we can do that’s valuable to our audiences that only we can provide.
This could even start breaking down formal barriers between sales and programming. For example, local search has been going through phenomenal changes lately. With the world going from desktop to mobile, smartphones are being used to get information and reviews before local purchases are made. We’re also seeing major sites like Amazon and Yelp being used as search engines for information on particular types of businesses.
And yet, all you can do with 99% of the streaming ads out there is listen to them. You can’t easily follow up interactively on what you hear in a way that would boost local businesses to local customers in an interactive way, coordinated across different platforms. Almost all other online advertising is interactive even if broadcast ads aren’t. One big advantage of listening to our streams could be to rapidly find the services and products you want, rather than just sitting through audio ads.
I might find it valuable to click from a streaming spot to a Chevy dealer if I’m in the market for a car, rather than just listen to the commercial. If you connected me with a good deal that I could take advantage of online and in the moment … that would be a whole lot more valuable than a traditional traffic report. Especially when Waze has already told me how exactly to avoid a back-up on my regular route!
Go to Wal-Mart and ask 50 people leaving the store what “Waze” is? You Wall Street Journal readers are too far from the real people in this country. This kind of thinking at the top in radio companies is what is hurting the business. Bob Pittman and Mike McVay used to be good at radio, but those 20th floor offices have skewed their view of the world.
Radio is (or should be) like a 100% cotton towel – comfortable, reliable, and always there, getting the job done just fine for typical people.
So, again, to answer Fred’s question…no, I’m not dropping traffic reports. If a five car pile-up has stopped traffic on the local Interstate, I’m telling my listener(s) about it, while you play SWEET HOME ALABAMA again, and ignore the problem.
Bill, thanks for weighing in and giving us a different perspective. It’s a market by market, station by station call. In New York City, a music station slotting in a couple of p.m. drive traffic reports an hour isn’t doing itself any favors when there’s 1010 WINS and WCBS. In other markets, a Hip-Hop or Country station can provide a solid service if it’s timely, accurate, and yes, entertaining. Jeff McKay’s comments above about the personality aspect of traffic reports are worth reading/considering. Thanks again.
But how about in 5 years? Mobile is booming. India is about to have more people online than the US because of the availability of cheap smartphones. Why not take the opportunity now to figure out what we need to be good at, instead of supporting a slowly dying need?
Totally agree. In fact, our post tomorrow (how’s that for setting an occasion?) is about seizing the moment (even if we’re late) and jumping in with both feet. Thanks, Chris.
That five car pile up shows up almost instantly on your listener’s smartphone’s GPS that they check 10 times an hour, so while you’re telling them what they already knew moments after it happened, Pandora is carving deeper into your TSL. Broadcasters have dangerously underestimated the competitive threat of song-skips, personalization and the infinite variety that online mobile offers. Those three attributes, technically impossible on AM/FM, will be used by America’s biggest tech companies to slice up broadcast radio’s audience like the turkeys our families will enjoy next week. Happy Thanksgiving.
Paul, to your point, an integrated model – melding personality, local knowledge, and technology – may be the most expensive way to go. But ultimately, it is the only way to go for brands that are serious about maintaining credibility and usage in the traffic space. And whatever your tastes, Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Thanks for the comment, Chris. It’s all about rolling with and adapting to the changes. Appreciate you adding to the conversation.
So true. I pulled traffic reports over two years ago and never looked back. We also never got a single complaint. Traffic is one more example of radio taking someone else’s information (highway patrol, etc.) and putting it on the air. Radio needs to focus on original content if it will win the long-run game for millennials.
Rico, that’s where we were headed with today’s post. The economic concerns are real. Stations that pull traffic because it just doesn’t make sense (or it’s a negative) need to replace those dollars with something else. From there, it’s easy. Thanks for the comment.
I totally and completely agree with Jeff McKay. The “Human Factor” will continue to be the most important aspect of a radio station. No machine or app can take its place. If the air personality, newscaster, sportscaster or traffic reporter performs their job at a top, professional level and adds their own unique personality to the mix there is no way that just plain technology will replace them. Yes, they can work together. But an app has no soul.
Curt, most definitely. Jeff’s comments (along with Jim Battagliese’s) are important parts of this conversation. I’m thinking we’re setting up a great panel for DASH 2016! Thanks for adding to the conversation.
Fred,
I have the utmost respect for your opinions and look forward to your Blog but I need to call you out on this one. In June of this year, GeoTraffic had the honor of being named as one of Jacob’s “Most Innovative” for our digital offering that is white labeled for Radio (as well as all forms of traditional media). Our offering retains the value of people talking to people as our Road reports provide listeners with the color and context they need regarding their traffic news. I agree with Batteliese – telling people what is going on and why there is a problem is the key. Personalized. On demand. Accurate. For those reasons as well as our ability to bring with it the incredibly valuable “spoken word” ad model (adjacent, uncluttered, embedded, break through…) only now enhanced with the ability to geo target that sponsor’s message, we were named as “Most Innovative”. Or so I thought.
The fact that you would concede traffic news to digital platforms like Waze without even referencing our offering for your Radio audience was disappointing. Regardless of a station’s programming genre, traffic is one piece of content relevant to all listeners “in-cabin”. As Radio continues to struggle to find truly unique and differentiating digital content, our traffic offering is content that stations can use to drive listeners to for a personalized, curated, human voiced traffic news. Expecting to hear “then it has to be promoted!” argument, regardless of traffic news, stations need to promote their digital offerings. Weaving the digital offering into the fabric of a jock’s show can provide that “promotion” to their listeners. “Don’t forget to get your concert traffic on OUR app…”.
Radio CAN compete against digital offerings for traffic! NINE – the number represents the number of people killed every day as a result of distracted driving. 1180 more are injured. EVERY DAY. Here is an idea- instead of conceding a piece of news information that has driven revenue for Radio to digital offerings that promote distraction, take up the flag of the Distracted Driving Initiative. Let people know you can’t “drive social”, to stop trying to rack up “points” while driving and instead, “steer and hear” traffic news on the station’s App. Use the ability to deliver our no cost, revenue producing traffic news to listeners, along with weather and even station type content to put the Radio back in the listeners home (referring to the Edison Research’s Radio, You have a Hardware Problem study). Tandem between broadcast and digital. Leverage your audience, don’t surrender it. Our offering can provide that to Radio stations on their App. Radio needs to embrace the digital platform and use is to combat any erosion of it’s offering due to digital solutions and traffic is a perfect example. It has the ability to use it’s digital platform as a sword and shield if utilized and postured properly. Instead of conceding the offering, shift it. It is ironic to read about the surrendering of traffic news “in-cabin” as other forms of traditional media now see it as a potential seat in that same cabin.
Fred, most people know how to get to work. They don’t need navigation; they need information. Reliable, accurate and relevant. Radio once owned the dashboard and the Traffic news information pipe. The inability to foresee the future and even to address the present has resulted in the often-cited migration as well as impacted the hundreds of millions of dollars traffic news has provided to the industry annually. I often hear about “dash board placement” and “free” in discussions about the health of Radio. What’s the game plan when WIFI becomes completely ubiquitous and free? Does Radio concede Music next to digital offerings that provide listeners what they want?
Whether most stations decide to keep traffic on Broadcast stations will likely be dependent on whether advertisers are willing to keep funding it. I would imagine that WAMU’s success provided it the flexibility to make that decision. That said, Radio does not have to abandon the offering-it simply needs to move it to their own digital platforms and drive listeners there instead of another platform. Because once they are gone, who knows when they will be back?
Frank Rizzo
CEO
GeoTraffic Network
“Radio’s Most Innovative” Recipient June 2015
Frank, sorry if the post conveyed the wrong impression. I singled out WTOP because they have integrated digital solutions in their very human, ultra-local traffic offerings. Their use of Waze is an enhancement, but of course, it’s not the only way to go. Solutions like yours and other provide radio with options and integrated solutions, but it requires commitment and investment. And then there the music stations that don’t really commit to traffic, but carry reports because they carry sponsorship dollars. I hope our purpose was clear, but if not, I’m glad you have the space to talk about GeoTraffic Network and your approach to this industry need.
Fred,
Thank you for the clarification. I do need to point out that there is no cost for our offering. Integration can be a simple iFrame insert. An even easier and quicker integration can happen if a station uses the CMS portion of their app (the block set aside for them to change content daily) to link them to a dedicated traffic page which would have the same look and feel as the iFrame insert. That type of integration requires absolutely no involvement of their developers meaning it would be completely free. That could happen in a day. As for any type of promotional cost, I assume most stations are promoting their own app. This is merely another feature to promote. I would think that if stations are promoting their App, a personalized and curated traffic news report would be a great feature further that promotion. In fact, stations have the ability to play a road report nearest to the user on App open as well as drop the same sponsored report in stream, generating revenue every time a user listens. Relevant, consumable and shareable short form content.
As for pure music stations, it should be viewed as a new frontier to generate revenue as the digital platform allows them to actually compete for this revenue stream as well as keep listeners on their own platform. As I suggested earlier, a stations digital offering should be viewed as an opportunity to offer it’s listeners something more than what they already offer on air.
I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Couldn’t the same be said about weather reports? Unless weather is severely altering someone’s day, I encourage my staff to avoid them. One can find the forecast/current conditions in Zimbabwe as quick as they could their hometown by picking up there cell phone. Why would you waste a break on info they already have when you could be delivering something far more entertaining?
By the way, it’s currently 75 degrees in Zimbabwe with 53% humidity and 9 mph winds.
OK, and now you’re going to tell me time checks are next! 🙂
I think Marc Maron has already said that time checks are obsolete.
The interesting thing is that there is a subsection of the public radio audience that was against traffic reports in the first place, either for political reasons (“why are you supporting car driving instead of bicycle riding or public transportation?”) or the “not public radio” (“We can tune to [all-news station] if we want to hear traffic reports. We can only hear in-depth news on NPR.”). And it seemed as though most pubradio stations were only doing traffic to keep listeners from going to all-news radio. It looks like those people are the winners now.
There’s a lot to be said for regularity and dependability. The commercial all-news stations have done a great job of branding through repetition, something that is much less common in the public radio arena. Thanks for the comment.
I have the same argument here that I did at DASH last year – traffic reports are about a whole lot more than information that’s available digitally elsewhere. The same goes for music, weather, news, NPR content, etc. All of it is available in some form, somewhere else. What’s not available elsewhere is insight. Waze may be reporting three “incidents” on your route home. What are they? How long before they’re cleared up? Are they real (if you watch Waze closely you’ll know that many are not)? What real impact are they having on normal traffic patterns? Those are questions Waze can’t answer. Our hosts and producers start with the same information most folks have and use resources others don’t have to get a clearer picture. Police dispatchers, media contacts, MDOT reps, etc. Heck – we even have traffic tipsters that call or email with tidbits that help present that clearer picture. And that’s what (most) of our listeners want – a clearer picture. Additionally – things like this never take into account that many people prefer to have information handed to them rather then seeking it out themselves. Yes, I can open four apps and scroll through info and decipher it myself, but, like most people, I’d rather just hit traffic and weather together on the 8s and get it all in one place, at one time, in an easily discernible manner. The “original content” aspect of this, for us, is taking many different data sources and refining them down to easily usable data for our listeners with a hometown eye on how it’s really affecting them.
And – here’s a dirty little “secret” – doing short traffic reports throughout the day gives us yet another opportunity to brand ourselves as “live and local.” Saying street names, place names, etc. reinforces that notion in our listener’s brains. It’s the same reason we do time checks, temp checks, weather checks, etc. Because we want our listeners to identify with us as a friendly local source for local information that they can use locally.
I love it, Patrick. Now we’re talking about something isn’t just a utility but a piece of content with strategic brand purpose. When you win the trust of your audience, it makes a huge difference. Thanks for taking the time to chime in with a great POV.
Alan, you bring up key points that many local stations – commercial or public – have to grapple with. What’s the commitment to the local community, whether it’s providing content and context for traffic, weather, concert info, or the local music scene? Traffic is just one element that has to be part of larger considerations of viable services that radio can offer today, and down the road. Thanks for the comment.
It all comes down to, the less well executed local content, the less reason to tune in. Especially when there are scores of other NPR stations on the dial and internet and satellite options for music and information. The stations who grasp that fact will survive, the ones who don’t won’t.
One problem in a number of markets are those regional traffic centers… How can someone from 300 miles away know how to pronounce street names or small nearby towns? They can’t, and that is a huge issue. Timely reports and up to date info is what it’s all about. If you have a live and local reporter, you can also anticipate where problems will be. Advantage human. Until Google gets their self-driving car on the road, it will still be difficult and dangerous to read your phone while behind the wheel. If done well, there will be a place for traffic in the radio landscape for some time.
Thanks, Brad. Good points all, and more reasons why taking traffic seriously can still pay dividends.
What’s a radio traffic report?
🙁
Whenever I get in the car, my iPhone immediately tells me the traffic for my anticipated commute. If that doesn’t clue me in, the electronic signs along the freeway will alert me of upcoming traffic situations. In my opinion, traffic reports on the radio are just another commercial. Play another song instead!
Todd, we share that sentiment. Most music stations would benefit from doing something else. Now we have to find a way to move those sponsorship dollars. Thanks for the comment.
One of the most important points in this blog is not the continuing improvements in technology and the “digital dash” — it’s “radio.” Stations, whether they’re owned by iHeart or public, all have had to do more with less these days. If done right, traffic can give any station a “live & local” presence. Yes, sometimes the reporter and even the information may be coming from a different time zone. However, a good reporter can interpret that info and make it sound like they’re sitting in traffic with the driver. It’s up to the PD of that station to demand that excellence, and for the reporter to learn the market they’re broadcasting on and talk “to” the listener and not “at” them. My station, WABC in New York in the past 2 years has more than doubled the number of traffic reports daily, adding over 100 reports each week, and revenue figures for these reports are obviously better than from 2 years ago. My station in DC, the former morning show told me that listeners called and liked my reports and how I do them, and that was a hit music station. Personally I like WAZE, but as a traffic tool. What these apps cannot do is “engage” the listener, “talk” to the listener, show “empathy” for the listener, be “live & local” for your listener, have “personality” and give the listener a reason to listen to and depend on your station.
Todd, with all due respect, I can listen to Pandora for another song, but Pandora can’t tell me why it took the wrecker over an hour to reach the stalled car and how to to get around it. Pandora can play the Rolling Stones, but only their commercials are local. Radio needs to give listeners what they cannot get from an app or another audio source. They need to monetize it and build on it.
As for those electronic signs, they’re only as good as the person inputting the info. Recently I was driving in Maryland, doing over 70mph in an area where the the signs said there were “heavy delays.”
And one other point – give the listener a reason to leave, and they may find something else they need on another station and not come back.
Visionaries built radio, from the legendary news anchors and reporters to the DJ’s who became household names. They did this based upon their personalities, dependability, and giving the listener what they wanted. If we forget what got us here, we face failure.
Fred,
Rubbish! Radio listeners in cars do not have the chance to check traffic on phones, navigators or any other toy. Radio stations providing traffic reports are serving the community and maybe making some money. Your plan is just another nail into AM radio and maybe some FM stations. AM radio stations can get listeners if they would have compelling programming. Taking traffic out of the menu is not the way to go. Fred, you’re wrong. Thank you for your time.
Neal, the song you’re singing is music to the ears of executives at Google, Apple, Pandora & Spotify. They know broadcasters have a blindspot about mobile because even as tens of millions of listeners spend more time with online mobile and less with A/F, those radio people have failed to innovate and create a service with the potential to reach Pandora scale. Even if listeners did “not have the chance” to check traffic on smartphones, which respectfully is absurd, they don’t have to visually “check” their devices, they just ask the device verbally for what they want and it delivers, instantly. Tons of data about in car smartphone use. Google “cell phone use in cars statistic” Unsafe to use mobile device while driving? Obviously. Do most millennials do it? Yes. Luckily for historians, posts like these will be memorialized for eternity so when the story is told about broadcast radio’s unwinding, there will be volumes of testimony about what broadcasters did (or more accurately didn’t do) to cause 50% of AM/FM stations to go dark https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2014/10/50-of-amfm-stations-will-be-gone-in-10-years-says-top-analyst.html
Paul, there’s no question that smartphones and apps are disrupting the old model. Neal’s comment aside, traditional broadcasters still have the opportunity to reassess and revamp their reports, partnering with a growing list of tech traffic providers. Thanks for the comment.
Neal, thanks for weighing in. If it were only so black and white. The fact is that traffic info is changing, to what extent, we don’t know yet. This is an area that we will investigate in our upcoming TS12. I’m not saying it’s OVER for radio, but I do think that stations that are seriously committed to traffic should be looking for digital integration to enhance their reporting, combined with their local knowledge and personalities. The WTOP example is a good one.
But for music stations that are doing traffic twice an hour in the drives, and carrying these reports primarily because there are sponsor dollars available, yes, I believe that model is endangered. And BTW, traffic reports in that context aren’t helping the ratings. Appreciate you taking the time to read the blog and comment.
Sure, go eliminate more jobs. You guys are so great! Do you want everyone to work at Walmart?
Hey Mark I hear your frustration. Unfortunately, iHeart and others had the opportunity to build services with the potential to compete meaningfully with Pandora et. al but they have failed. comScore shows iHeart lost listeners Y/Y and is nowhere in the ballpark of Pandora and Spotify. The digital play Cumulus bet on, Rdio, just went bankrupt and CBS barely shows up in online ratings. The moral dilemma broadcast radio trades and executives now have is how to frame what is really happening to AM/FM radio. The hard truths that Fred, Mark Ramsey, Kurt Hanson, Larry Rosin and others eloquently write about are seen less frequently in radio’s pop trades. Are most AM/FM employees ready for the trajectory of their industry? While those in broadcast radio C-suite will likely cash out in the next 3-4 years — before the crash — thousands of workers will lose their jobs as the FM to online transition passes the tipping point over the next 5 years. Personally I see Borrell’s forecast as conservative. I think massive downsizing will begin in three years. Apple and Google know that tens of millions of A/F listeners either tried Pandora years before they worked out the kinks or haven’t yet tried Pandora, Apple Music, Spotify, etc. Those companies are flush with cash and their marketing campaigns, stealth or mainstream will carve into AM/FM’s audience attacking weaknesses where the industry is totally exposed and vulnerable. Broadcasters have dangerously underestimated the enormous appeal of song skips, the infinite dial of variety and personalization and have absolutely no plan to defend their terrain. The good news for innovative people is that the monopoly that AM/FM had on audio entertainment has collapsed. The freedom to reach a mass audience is ours. There’s still plenty of beachfront property that Pandora, Apple, Google and Spotify haven’t yet taken.
Mark, many in radio empathize with your frustration. Our posts are not meant to preach gloom and doom, but to point out some of the obvious and emerging trends that impact the business. On the one hand, there may be fewer traditional traffic reporters as we’ve known them. On the other, there are opportunities with companies that are providing web-based traffic info.
The same is true in the podcasting space. There are decidedly fewer on-air jobs (especially overnights, nights, and weekends), but the opportunities to enter the realms of blogging and podcasting have never been greater.
Virtually every industry is enduring these shifts, whether it’s automotive, retail, or travel. It has always been about recognizing the change, and in some cases, adjusting skill sets to meet these changing conditions. There’s never been a greater opportunity for anyone to become a media force, via blogging, YouTube video, and podcasting. But it requires recognition, information, and skill acquisition. I can’t help you with that last one, but the purpose of this blog is to help point readers in the right direction with the first two.
Thanks for writing.