Last week’s RAB/NAB Radio Show could well be remembered as the moment that radio got it’s mojo back.
The mood at this year's convention was several notches above the apocalyptic doom of the last few years. Determination and steely resolve have replaced fear and anxiety of the recent past.
RAB President Jeff Haley's upbeat keynote address set the tone, and that tone echoed throughout the meetings that followed.
The previous fatalistic attitude regarding the threat of new-media was replaced with an upbeat assessment of broadcast’s ability to match and even better the digital initiatives of digital pure-plays.
Broadcasters seem to have found a mental sweet spot rejecting both a nostalgic hope that the happy days of the past will return, and the belief that radio’s digital evolution will be pain-free.
Discussions focused less on the threat of digital, and more on practical ways to exploit digital.
The zealous new-media true-believer panelists of previous conventions were replaced by more practical realists willing to acknowledge new-media’s challenges and limitations.
In past broadcast gatherings, any talk about radio’s ability to survive digital's onslaught was met with skepticism and derision. This Radio Show showed more balance, without either pollyannasim or chicken-littleism regarding broadcast radio’s future.
It was refreshing to see the industry emerge from the bunker. Looks like broadcast radio has its mojo back.
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