Every day, new emails blast my in-box with predictions about what’s coming, where it’s headed, and what’s next. Sometimes it’s like watching MSNBC and Fox News guessing what’s going to happen at the conventions. Or ESPN prognosticating about who will be the wild card team. Entertaining, at times, but often incorrect.
When a new Q&A from TVNewsday showed up, featuring Rishad Tobaccowala, the chief innovation officer at Publicis Groupe Media, a leading advertising firm with $45 billion of ad power, I paused to check it out. The question at hand is what is mass media as we move forward in the new media world?
In Tobaccowala’s world, TV is still very mass, but losing some of its potency. He feels that if they don’t embrace digital media and figure out how to monetize it, there’s trouble ahead. But TV can still have a huge audience, but they’re certainly not growing.
And then there’s radio. Here’s his "take" on why radio isn’t mass media:
Radio is basically a niche media. In fact, I think radio is a declining media. You can see that with declining values of radio stations. There are three major competitors to radio. The first is a small little thing from Apple called the iPod. Radio gets listened to in three places. It gets listened to in the car, right? Well, increasingly, cars come with iPod connectors.
The second place is the office. When people listen in the office, they listen to stuff on the Internet, but they don’t necessarily listen to Internet radio stations. They listen to things like Pandora and Lost.fm, which basically allow them to customize their music. And they listen to satellite radio, most of which is commercial free.
I believe that newspapers and radio are a couple of fast-declining businesses. I believe that large segments of magazines will also start declining. I believe that television and out-of-home and the Internet will be OK.
Point taken on the iPod, and the challenges that listening locations present for radio. These are themes that we have explored many times in this blog, and in Jacobs Media research. The office, however, is still a great opportunity for radio, as well as WiMax in cars – both of which feature streaming platforms.
Radio has options here, but needs to provide great streams, market them effectively, and fix the stopset problem. It also wouldn’t hurt to invest some money in public relations, because articles like this keep reinforcing these challenging times. As we have learned with satellite radio and iPods over the past few years, marketing and PR work. It’s time we started doing some of our own.
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.
- Baby, Please Don’t Go - November 22, 2024
- Why Radio Needs To Stop Chasing The Puck - November 21, 2024
- Great Radio – In The Niche Of Time? - November 20, 2024
Yesterday, while I was at work, my sister stole my iPad and tested to see if it can survive a forty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and
she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Have you ever thought about creating an ebook or guest authoring on other blogs?
I have a blog centered on the same topics you
discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would value your work.
If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e-mail.