We recently noted a turning point regarding how radio was treated by other media. Left for dead just a few months ago, upbeat stories on radio are starting to appear even in mainstream media.
The latest example is the story of Larry Wilson in Time written by Belinda Luscombe. The title, Rescuing Radio, says it all. It portrays Wilson as a savvy broadcaster who got out at the right time, and now thinks it is time to get back in, buying stations in Portland, Oregon.
Wilson’s take on what went wrong is explained this way:
Wilson's strategy is to take radio back to its local roots while at the same time keeping his company private and well capitalized. "When you cut the costs out of this business, you cut the product. Then you don't have anything to distinguish you from iPods or anything," he says.
It's also a repudiation of the consolidation strategy, which tried to increase profits by centralizing sales and programming. "People say, 'We'll program five markets from X city and we'll have one team doing it, and we'll save all this money,'" he says. "Doesn't work. Listeners want to talk about the mayor, the new light rail that's going in, the local sports teams." Wilson acquired the rights to air the games of three local sports teams for his FM sports channel. According to Arbitron, it has already started to poach listeners from the local AM sports channel.
Radio’s Chicken Littles continue to tell us the sky is falling. The fact that more and more journalists are tempering their radio is dead stories says otherwise.
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