I've been a strong supporter of NAB President David Rehr since his appointment. His evangelical delivery is uplifting. His rhetoric is consistent. His presence is one of a leader with a soul set on rallying momentum for a cause. (In this case, make that causes.) I'm still a strong believer in Mr. Rehr, but less confident he'll be able to pull off any of the initiatives announced over the past few months.

"Mr. Rehr's problem is wrestling an octopus with tentacles of varying lethality."

By attending The NAB Radio Show, I had a figurative front row seat to radio executive narcissism in a changing world. The grandiose obligation to rise to former levels of being ubiquitous, by 2020, is an example. By definition, radio is no longer ubiquitous. It's tuned out by an unserved generation. You no longer hear it in every store, nor at the beach, park, and college campus (though an attorney may argue "because it's not used doesn't mean it's not present.") The other part of my concern is that 2020 is just too far in the future to think about today. Radio couldn't keep an eye on 2007 from when this internet chatter started in 1998.

David Rehr is a powerful speaker, motivator, and I'll use the term "leader" with emphasis. It's just that the problems faced by the radio industry today are strong - with that strength gained by years of radio ignoring a variety of issues. Mr. Rehr's problem is wrestling an octopus with tentacles of varying lethality. It is here I wish to introduce a quote from 1911 Nobel Prize laureate in Literature, Maurice Maeterlinck: "At every crossroad on the road that leads to the future, each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand men appointed to guard the past." Here are this octopus' arms: 1) The radio industry needs to be brought up to speed on new media, literally, overnight. Admittedly, some people within radio have knowledge, but we're talking here about getting executives to grasp how big the internet has grown. Then they need to believe its impact on everyone who falls into that category of "desirable" to advertisers. 2) The radio industry needs to shell out cash to bring its infrastructure up to par with what agencies and audience are expecting in this Web 2 world. Some radio groups are, but not in quantities demanded by years of delay in making this move. 3) Let go of the past. Reproducing what radio was isn't what the audience wants. Also, quit the rhetorical call that radio is producing "compelling" programming. The audience isn't falling for the same repetitious chest-thumping that it did years ago. And stop blaming critics for having created the perception that radio now carries. Fixing yesterday's problems is as possible as recovering from a fumbled song intro after the mike is closed. Move on. Hire talent who truly understand what showed up as a "problem" to some in radio only this year. The NAB Radio Show enthusiasm needs to be transferred into action. Yet, history shows that probably won't be the case. 4) SoundExchange is out to get a piece of radio's pie, and little can be done now than to argue for lessening the amount of money it will get. The time to begin objecting was when the CRB ruling first hit the table for internet radio and satrad. But, who da thunk? Many, though nobody in radio listened at the time. 5) Embrace new technology concepts, even if they are fresh and stand a chance of failing. Hipcricket put on one of the most innovative presentations I witnessed at the radio show. It's ahead of the curve, but in line with the flow of progress in text messaging. 6) Welcome the trend setters like Google Audio, Bid4Spots and SWMX. I've said this many times in the past, because it's true, I am witnessing the same degree of resistance to these internet revenue generators as I saw when making presentations with David Saperstein while launching radio traffic reports. The fears are unfounded. Over the long term, added demand will keep rates high, and radio will easily join in new technology. 7) Create a new farm system for talent with your web site audio programs, instead of just reposting your on-air signal. The audience is chasing new programs online, not HD. ...Which brings us to the last arm of this octopus facing David Rehr, the one that holds the greatest threat to squeeze so tight that it constricts movement in all other areas. 8) Start repurposing your HD Radio side channels as outlets for the better-known internet radio stations. The audience needs a reason to buy HD Radio. (On more than one occasion at The NAB Radio Show I heard it referred to as "Huge Disaster" Radio.) Tell your audience that your HD sideband has SOMA FM, Digitally Imported, AccuRadio, RadioIO, Radio Paradise - or any of hundreds of other online stations that are pulling millions of listeners a month on the internet. Then, they have a reason to buy an HD Radio. Then, those twenty-something clerks at WalMart, Best Buy, and Crutchfield will know what someone is talking about when they ask for an HD demonstration. Mr. David Rehr is the energetic, youthful, and charismatic head of the broadcast industry, radio and TV. He knows the perils if those hundreds of people sitting in carefully-arranged rows at his Radio Show keynote address do not act, if they go home with visions but nothing else. David Rehr has the desire to make a difference. But now it's so late in the game, and there are so many problems wrapping themselves around him and the industry. You have to wonder if radio executive narcissism won't cause some who heard all his words at The NAB Radio Show on how much the industry is offering the public to just go home, look in the mirrow, and mutter something like "What, me worry?"

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