News story about a BIA media analyst report published in the US predicting that the radio broadcast sector faces long-term slump if it does not offer innovative formats for young listeners, written by Grant Goddard in April 2006 for The Radio Magazine.

1. NEWS: US MEDIA ANALYST
REPORT PREDICTS LONG-TERM
SLUMP FOR RADIO SECTOR IF
NO INNOVATIVE FORMATS FOR
YOUNG LISTENERS
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
April 2006

2. News: US Media Analyst Report Predicts Long-Term Slump For Radio Sector If No Innovative Formats For Young
Listeners Page 2
©2006 Grant Goddard
An American media analyst report predicts that the radio broadcasting industry
could be in a long-term slump if it does not successfully attract young listeners
by offering innovative formats on new delivery platforms.
The BIA Financial Network’s 'Radio Market Report' describes the industry’s
growth in recent years as “sluggish” and concludes that there is limited
potential for improvement in the immediate future.
Tom Buono, CEO of the company, said: "The radio industry has been
struggling over the last couple years, and while it might be a little better this
year, we're definitely not out of the woods yet – not even close.” He said that
traditional radio’s reliance on airtime advertising made it vulnerable to new
media: “You see automakers going to new media with their budgets, including
Google and things like that, and that takes a big bite out. What we've seen
recently is a sort of divergence, and it's not something that you can just bounce
back from in just a few years."
Mark Fratik, BIA vice president, outlined an action plan for radio owners: "For
the industry to see stronger growth, it must better attract younger listeners by
offering new formats and utilising multiple distribution platforms. Also, at the
same time, radio needs to demonstrate its effectiveness as an advertising
medium by utilising improved research methods."
In the UK, some voices have issued similar warnings this month. In an article
entitled 'Something’s rotten in the state of commercial radio', media consultant
Paul Robinson commented that the commercial radio industry is still grappling
with new technology for “fresh ways of getting audio content to consumers”
and concluded that “the fork in the road for commercial radio has never been
clearer”.
Commenting on GCap Media plc’s recent setbacks, UBC Media plc CEO
Simon Cole said: “The trouble for them is that they are trying to turn a super-
tanker, while the business model is changing at a speed that's very hard to
keep up with. Their problem is not that they're running the business model
badly, but the wheels are coming off the [analogue radio] business model."
[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Radio May Face Long-Terms Slump', #732, 19 April 2006]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk