Media Info Bureau

Seeking balance is critical in today’s hectic and chaotic life. Media Information Bureau contributor Kelly Orchard, M.A. LMFT spent years in a cycle of chaos of her own making ... until she was forced to stop due to a health crisis. This led Orchard to find a new purpose in teaching and guiding others to slow down and enjoy the journey. In her latest column, Orchard shares her thoughts about the power of radio, and how one song from Huey Lewis + The News triggered a flood of inspiration.

Marketers are searching for ways to solve these challenges, and are increasingly finding the answer in people-based marketing. As radio and TV stations seek to capture consumers via smartphones and social media more than ever before, a newly released report from Viant could provide valuable insights as to best practices in digital consumer delivery.

Over recent years, smartphone innovation has slowed. Developments from major vendors have trickled in, with refinement of functionality being brought to handsets, rather than leaps of innovation. Smartphones have no sign of disappearing; they remain one of the most widely used devices. However, there is certainly a lull in terms of market growth and buzz surrounding the products. What does this mean for broadcast media, given the voluntary rollout of the Next Gen broadcast TV standard and the push for FM chips in all smartphones, including those running on iOS systems? 

Throughout 2017, popular brands witnessed the power of "Black Twitter" and the brand impact of socially conscious Black consumers. Through social media, Black consumers have brokered a seat at the table and are demanding that brands and marketers speak to them in ways that resonate culturally and experientially—if these brands want their business. With African Americans spending $1.2 trillion annually, brands have a lot to lose, a new study from Nielsen illustrates for broadcast media professionals seeking increased ROI through a highly important consumer group.

There's been a ton of press in the last week about Unilever, and how it's very concerned about the safety of its brand messages in digital venues including YouTube and Facebook. Our editor-in-chief has something to say to them, and by popular demand we're sharing it again with you as a Presidents' Day bonus: Radio is your safe place for your brand messages and the strong ROI growth you've been fretting about in the digital world.

For those of you who truly enjoy researching, learning, writing and exposing serious questionable conduct by parties in power, the most difficult thing we face is deciding, from among hundreds of topics, the subject for a column. For Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner, there's a specific criteria that is followed. This includes responding to requests from readers in a potential bind with the FCC. That's exactly what Benner has done in his latest exclusive offering to RBR+TVBR Members.

Among the many e-mails that arrived this week at RBR+TVBR was an item about a digital media Leviathan that immediately struck a chord. It involved teens, and their ever-shifting social media habits. The takeaway: Teens and Tweens are fleeing Facebook. Sound familiar, radio?

Have you ever hired a sales rep to "hunt" for new customers, but they simply "failed miserably?" Expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger knows all too well how much of a nightmare that can be for you, your team, and the gang upstairs in the C-Suite. In six short minutes, you could have a much clearer vision of who to bring in for this important role — and who to shy away from.

No matter how you've achieved career success, you’ve made strides to grow into your current position. But, the radio business has evolved, and new challenges spring up every day. Are you seeking continual growth? Or, have you allowed yourself to become complacent and stopped making the effort that got you where you are? For columnist Kelly Orchard, all media industry C-Suiters need to be in a perpetual growth mindset. It is "very personal," she notes in this RBR+TVBR exclusive.

Regular Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner is full of glee today, thanks to the establishment — or substantial enhancement — of the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee. Among the issues the committee may consider is the "implementation of Commission rules and consumer participation in the FCC rulemaking process." What does this mean for you? Benner explains it all. 

In this Media Information Bureau column from expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger, seven qualities he's experienced and observed of great sales coaches are outlined. "Coaching your reps is the primary function of your job," he implores. "It’s the best pathway to achieving the sales quota."

Progress in "Advanced TV" and the industry's commitment to new methods that will improve interactivity and the viewer experience will help with the ascent of local video advertising in 2018. That's the key bullet point offered in a new BIA/Kelsey report on the progress and trajectory of linear TV platforms including automated TV, programmatic TV, addressable TV, OTT, Smart TV, Connected TV, and — with the recent FCC approval — of Next-Gen local TV standards, ATSC 3.0.

In this concluding Media Information Bureau column, featured columnist Ken Benner offers more insight and advice for individuals — and media companies — who wish to call on his 55 years of experience providing service to the broadcast industry by recruiting more Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) certification inspectors.

Facebook is fighting "Fake News" in a big way. In addition to the prioritization of posts from friends, Facebook is giving added attention to "high-quality" news sources. Mark Zuckerberg himself explained what these sources are in a Jan. 19 Facebook post. How can your radio or TV station known in your community as "the news source" benefit from this change? Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson seeks the answer for you.

There's a new entity that has jumped into the arena of ad spending reports, and according to its key findings, overall ad spend remained relatively flat from 2016 to 2017. The assessment of the year in ad spend comes from Matrix Solutions' first annual Advertising Spend Report.