Intelligence Briefs

As the new year unfolds, veteran public relations executive and "Zoom expert" Rosemary Ravinal has received "intriguing questions" from people who spend most of their workdays on Zoom, Teams or similar video conferencing platforms. Two questions she received could resonate with you. Here are her answers.

Longtime radio industry programming consultant and tech visionary Fred Jacobs last week penned a column slamming broadcast radio for accepting advertising from Sirius XM. Why? Jacobs asks why Radio "would knowingly aid and abet a fierce competitor that is a stone cold threat – right now today?" This RBR+TVBR Observation offers a counterpoint to Jacobs' views on audio media competition.

No matter how some Americans choose to remember the events that took place on Jan. 6, 2021, in the last days of the Trump Adminstration, Curtis LeGeyt says that, among the many lessons learned that day, "the public was undoubtedly reminded of broadcasters’ critical role in bringing information to the public, especially during times of crisis."

Who knew that Bauer's Absolute Radio would turn the clock back by more than 45 years to do something today that U.S. operators should mimic? They're holding a contest that's all about "You." It's been more than 45 years since U.S. radio put a focus on "You," and a rekindling of that effort is sorely needed.

With the shift of TV audiences to advertising-free video platforms, local advertisers are turning to audio — not simply radio — to build their brands and drive sales. How can a CMO and brand manager help build a successful local audio plan? Pierre Bouvard, the Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media and its Westwood One arm, offers up five strategies he believes will yield success.

While some may shed a tear over the final broadcasts of a handful of AM radio stations that are seeing their licenses surrendered to the FCC, our editor-in-chief believes there is a bigger, more fundamental question that needs to be asked. Did the Radio industry fail in not embracing DAB? Yes, and no, he argues, as such a move would have damaged the brokerage community and iHeartRadio.

The increased focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Corporate America is not going unnoticed among Black, Hispanic and other diverse audiences, a new Horowitz Research study shows. As such, to resonate with the multicultural, "brands need to step up," Horowitz advises. Does the concept of "brand" extend beyond the advertiser to the media outlets themselves?

Once again, our editor-in-chief found himself a passenger in a shared ride vehicle where the audio selection of choice didn't involve Spotify or Pandora, or SiriusXM. It once again sends the message that Radio needs a unified pitch to marketers to reinforce its importance — especially today, given the millions raised for charity by AM and FM listeners.

Recently, NBCU ad sales leader Laura Molen noticed a recurring theme – advertisers are working to adapt to new audience behaviors and questioning whether they should place the same premium on digital, social, and streaming video as they do on linear. "To answer this question, she writes, "we need to remember our most important partners—our viewers."

Real-time engagement is of increasing desire among U.S. consumers. People increasingly want RTE video or audio features in the apps they use. For example, buyers in a shopping app want to talk to sellers. Can broadcast radio or TV benefit from this growing desire for "RTE'? An Agora survey may have some very interesting takeaways.

A "deluge' of ads from expanded legalized sports betting and the return of midterm political ad spending in 2022 are expected to aid U.S. broadcasters’ rebound from the pandemic. That's the key conclusion from S&P Global Market Intelligence Senior Research Analyst Justin Nielson, who works in the Kagan arm. 

"As we reach the end of 2021, advertising growth is showing much faster expansion than previously anticipated, driven primarily by growth in the U.S., U.K. and China." That's the highly optimistic conclusion of groupM's Brian Wieser. But, where do television and audio advertising measure up? He's crunched the numbers and for audio industry players, the future isn't so bright.

How are radio and TV poised to perform in the next five years? WARC, the international marketing intelligence service, has some new intelligence on the subject.

At his talk at the Miami Book Fair in November, WJR-AM in Detroit air talent and respected author Mitch Albom served up valuable lessons about great presentations that caught "Zoom expert" and public relations veteran Rosemary Ravinal's attention. In her view, what Albom said provides key learning lessons on how to perfect the great presentation.

CIMM, in conjunction with Project X Institute's Jon Watts and Alan Wolk of TVREV, have announced the development of a "Guide to Converged TV Measurement Providers." Upon completion in early 2022, the guide seeks to provide a landscape of the entire Converged TV measurement ecosystem in the U.S, as well as a comparative analysis of the companies who are conducting converged TV audience measurement.