According to Emmis chief Jeff Smulyan, radio doesn’t have an effectiveness problem, it has a perception problem, and he believes FM on cell can be just to tool to keep the focus radio’s core strengths going forward.
In answer to a question from the Indianapolis Star on changes in the radio business, Smulyan said, “The perception has changed more than the reality. The perception is it has suffered; the reality is that the consumption of over-the-air radio has held up remarkably well. We have to change that perception and use technology to our benefit, which we think we can with our FM chips in cell phones initiative. A decade from now, over-the-air radio will still be here, as it has been for 100 years. Its core strengths — localization, portability and universal, free distribution — won’t change.”
Smulyan discussed other matters during the course of the interview, explain his people-oriented management style in service of which he seeks out talent and then stays out of the way as much as possible.
Smulyan said by far the most difficult aspect of his job was the occasional necessity to let some of that talent go. “If you don’t lose sleep over those decisions,” he told the Star, “you aren’t a person I want to know.”
He discussed the ups and downs inherent to the radio business, and said one of the most gratifying feats for Emmis, rather than scaling the heights, has been emerging more or less intact after the latest US economic downturn.
RBR-TVBR observation: We believe FM on cell is an incredible opportunity, not seen since the demise of the transistor radio. This is radio’s best chance to emerge from the vehicles to which it has largely been confined ever since.
Not to say radio is not heard in other venues. But this gives it an opportunity to once again be a companion when consumers are walking around – and as a former urban resident, we know for a fact that a lot of miles are logged on foot in just about any US city.
We suggest that the stations that will win as accessibility of FM on cell improves are those that provide a sense of community and take full advantage of the features the cell phone platform offers.
We would be looking for a station that shares our taste in music, discusses that music and other related cultural matters specific to our format group and our city, and keeps us up to date on the usual – news, weather, sports, traffic. Just standard good radio stuff.
Platforms like Pandora and Sirius can offer more music, but they can’t offer extreme local content like radio can. Local is radio’s strength, and Smulyan is right to see the FM chip as a major opportunity for radio to strengthen its position in an extremely competitive audio arena.
