The Radio Industry to Advertiser Silence

The chasm between a digital radio company and a radio company in digital is wide. I came to this conclusion many years ago, but recently had it reinforced by nobody less than Apple Radio. Listen close, those in broadcast and internet radio who are playing as if you're in digital. Your future is going to be one of chasing crumbs. Digital radio companies know the potential of how to work this genre of communications; they take advantage of everything to attract audience and advertisers.

"HoustonRadio.com, DetroitRadio.com, LosAngelesRadio.com, MiamiRadio.com, PittsburghRadio.com, and even NewYorkRadio.com, the mother of all radio industry names, are still not owned by the radio industry."

Apple knows of the variations consumers have in accessing its products. It reaches into hardware and software, because it plans and knows how to get the most from each.

We won't discuss hardware here; iPod, iPad, and a list of laptops with ancillary gear can be bought at any Apple store.

But, let's stop for just a minute and revisit something printed here, May 27, 2009: "CBS Radio paid over a billion dollars to acquire CNet about a year ago. Early on, Radio.com (owned by CNet) redirected users to the more highly profiled MP3.com, also owned by CNet. Today both URLs are the property of CBS, but only the MP3.com URL is active." Radio.com was what's referred to as a "404." In Geek Speak, it wasn't being used - and was absent, not found, didn't exist. Until recently.

Today, HoustonRadio.com, DetroitRadio.com, LosAngelesRadio.com, MiamiRadio.com, PittsburghRadio.com, and even NewYorkRadio.com, the mother of all radio industry names, are still not owned by the radio industry.

Even the term SeattleRadio.com, owned by Fisher Communications of Seattle Washington, sits idle with no redirect leading to any of Fisher's Seattle radio properties. The only word to describe this relative to the radio industry is "stupid."

For over a decade I've explained, multiple times, that the use of a descriptive domain name was advantageous. Yes, you can create a good destination without - Google, Yahoo!, Hulu, Twitter are all examples on non-descriptive domains which made the big time.

Then we have YouTube.com, Facebook.com, Travelocity.com, iHeartRadio.com, and finally Radio.com being used as descriptive online destinations.

But what of the radio industry and its need to reach advertisers? While Google AdWords is aimed at advertisers, and Microsoft & Yahoo! use BingAds.com, where is the radio industry equivalent?

The surprise: RadioAdvertiser.com is owned by Audio Graphics
RadioAdvertisers.com is owned by a fellow in New York City.
He also owns RadioAdvertising.com

The radio industry has shown no interest in seriously establishing itself as digital. It may have started a dozen-or-so initiatives, but none were aimed at advertisers learning how to use radio.

LMiV	dead	article
Network Radio Compliance Council	dead	web site
Radio Communicators Group	dead	story
Radio 2020	?	web site
Radio Heard Here	dead	web site
The HD Radio Alliance		web site
Radio. You Hear It Here First	dead	web site
Less is More	dead	press release
Radio Creative Resource Group	?	web site
Format Lab	?	article

...I could go on.

Here is the most salient point to make: The digital people all have web sites devoted to showing business how to advertise. All radio industry backed web sites speak strictly to people within the radio industry - and that's online and off.

The lone exception to the above is Triton Digital, which provides information on the "how" of its "Audio Ad Network," "Engagement Ad Distribution Network," and "Audio Ad Exchange." (But, before you begin high-fiving, go see what's at each. It's scant compared with educational sources of true digital companies.)

Think about this: If you type in "RadioAdvertiser.com" - as a business owner interested in advertising on the radio would logically do - you are taken to Audio Graphics. Type in "RadioAdvertising.com" or "RadioAdvertisers.com" and you are taken to the Apple Radio web site.

The first sentence on the page at Apple Radio is "Tune in to radio re-imagined." It's followed by "iTunes Radio and iAd offers music programming customized for users and radio advertising optimized for brands."

The next sentence is "Find your audience with iAd’s unique targeting tools and bring your creative to life with all new audio and video ad formats designed for iOS devices, Mac, PC and Apple TV." There is a plethora of options from here, all explaining how to get the best use of radio advertising using Apple Radio.

The reason why the chasm grows wider between a digital radio company and a radio company in digital is simple: The radio industry talks to itself, online, while digital players are talking to the advertisers.








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