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Radio on Main Street Podcast Featuring Jessica Spence, Texas A&M University Senior Who Aspires to a Career in Broadcasting

By 2020 millennials will make up half of the global workplace and yet there continues to be many misperceptions regarding their work ethic.

Erica Farber, President & CEO of the RAB speaks with Jessica Spence a senior at Texas A&M University majoring in Agricultural Communications and Journalism. With her eye on a career in broadcasting, Jessica a true Radio fan is proof one should never judge a book by its cover.

Local Radio Reigns Supreme

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported on the shuttering of a chain of Eastside community newspapers. One article even went so far as to say, “Local and regional newspapers that serve Southern California are going through tough times, leading some to question whether traditional newspapers can survive.” Radio has always been there – now it is even more valuable! The importance of local radio to the local community can’t be understated.

The challenge for local Newspapers has been how to sustain a newsroom and make a profit when print advertising is fleeing to lower-cost space on the Internet.  Most digital ads are concentrated on Facebook and Google, not newspaper websites. These two Internet giants take in 60 percent of online ad revenues.

Radio was shown as the most trusted platform used after the impact of hearing about “fake news” in political coverage.  See below for the Kantar “Trust in News” study where it was revealed ‘mainstream news media’s’ reputation remained largely intact while social media and digital-only news platforms sustained major reputation damage. In addition, Facebook and other digital platforms are not designed to promote civic connection, but rather communities of interest often unmoored from particular geographies.

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Radio on Main Street Podcast featuring Josh Roberts, Operations Manager at Great Plains Media in Bloomington, IL.

The relationship between programming and sales is a critical component at a successful radio station. A great example of how these two departments are working together for success is at Great Plains Media in Bloomington, Illinois.

While attending the recent Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, Erica Farber, President & CEO of the RAB caught up with Operations Manager Josh Roberts, who shares his thoughts on why this relationship is so important and how it continues to pay off at his station.

Radio Delivers For Local Businesses

 

Small businesses are thriving and looking at 2018 in a positive way, and radio is the perfect vehicle to help them meet their 2018 revenue expectations and goals. Each year BIA/Kelsey conducts Local Commerce Monitor™ (LCM), a survey that tracks small-business advertising and marketing spending, buying preferences, and reported return on investment. Within the LCM, BIA/Kelsey also examines franchises. A franchisor licenses its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its business model, brand, and rights to sell its branded products and services to a franchisee.

In the past year, strong economic growth has led to an increase in spending by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and franchisees on advertising and marketing.

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Radio on Main Street Podcast Featuring Christina Albee, CMO at Cumulus Media

A Chief Marketing Officer, also known as a CMO is a c-level corporate executive responsible for activities in an organization that have to do with creating, communicating and delivery offerings that provide value for customers and clients. At Cumulus Media that go-to person is Christina Albee.

Erica Farber, President & CEO of the RAB talks with Christina about the challenges of balancing her time between the company’s significant national initiatives with the local connections of over 446 owned and operated radio stations in 90 markets across the country.

Digital Integration Pays Big Dividends For Radio

Author: Dave Casper, RAB/SVP Digital

“Digital has been integrated into all facets of broadcast radio’s offering both in programming and sales, and the results are definitely paying off,” stated Erica Farber, President and CEO, RAB.  “As radio continues to provide integrated marketing solutions to its advertisers we expect to see continued growth.”

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Radio on Main Street Podcast Featuring Current MIW spokesperson Denyse Mesnik, President of The Mesnik Group

The MIW group consists of top level women across the county who volunteer their time to use their influence and resources to support women in radio to develop strong management and leadership skills.  The current MIW spokesperson is Denyse Mesnik, President of The Mesnik Group.

In this episode of Radio on Main Street, RAB President & CEO Erica Farber and one of the original founders of the MIW’s talks with Denyse about some of the current initiatives for the year plus they also discuss the findings of the recently released 2017 MIW Gender Analysis study.

Radio’s Influence on Music

Radio is the number one source for new music discovery. The raft of new technologies and devices are opening up new discovery methods, but also providing new ways for radio stations to deliver content – most notably via streaming. 37% of music listeners say that one of the things they like most about listening to traditional radio – and that adds to the enjoyment of the music – are the DJ’s (Nielsen Entertainment’s 2017 U.S. Music 360 Highlights).

According to the latest Nielsen Entertainment 2017 Music Year-End Report for the U.S., the surge in streaming continued throughout 2017, topping all forms of music consumption (Albums + Track Equivalents + On-Demand Audio streaming Equivalents). Streaming continued its leadership over downloads as the dominant music consumption platform of 2017, fueling the music industry’s overall volume growth of 12.5% year over year. The increase was led by a 58.7% increase in On-Demand Audio streams compared to 2016.

The addition of streaming data to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which both reflects and drives hit radio playlists, means that streaming is now playing an important part in determining which songs are played on radio. Radio programmers today are influenced by traction demonstrated by artists and songs performing well on streaming services.

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