Forecasts, Warnings, and Comments - 2
Over 20 years of writing articles my goals were to report digital's impact on broadcast, to aid internet radio, and to help indie artists. Comments were not based on guesswork. Words came from the trenches, from real-world experience or from research provided by credible companies.
An observation: The farther into digital the world gets the less radio executives listen. Today, efforts are on survival with minimal effort.
Data in 2017 will continue to show an ad dollar flight to accountable media buys.
Traditional media will continue to argue they're doing fine; but don't look under the demographic hood, please!
One question I'd like to see discussed in radio industry trades is "Now that earbuds are moving to wireless Bluetooth, what implications does this have on Emmis Communications' NextRadio, and its demand for earbud wires to act as an antenna"?
| Here are some observations made over the years. |
 Ken Dardis |
Oct. 13, 2000 |
Traditional media hasn't responded to how people use new media, except to try placing the old way of doing things on the Internet. It hasn't worked, and won't work, because folks use the Internet in a different way than they've ever used radio, tv, or newspapers. The message behind the warning is old media needs to do a better job of fitting in. Simply shifting the way we gather an audience, without shifting the content or delivery style, will not fit the two-way interactive nature of new media. |
| Dec. 19, 2000 |
Arthur Andersen now says one-third of company executives feel the Internet marketplace plays a 'crucial' role in their overall e-business strategy, and 50% feel the marketplace will offer a chance for competitive position 'within 12 months'. |
| Feb. 5, 2001 |
The ability to grow your share of that pie depends on knowing what "personalization" and "customizing" are. These new elements of advertising won't give you fits today, but they will take a large portion of local ad dollars away in the near future by knowing more about the audience than you do. |
| June 25, 2001 |
Radio stations should note the chance to use Internet related elements in programming. Nearly everyone can relate to them, but even more important is the fact there are 27 million technology enthusiasts in the U.S. Representing 13% of all adults. These are the folks The Standard defined as those who "use the Internet, have a home computer and own two or more high-tech gadgets." 40% graduated from college. 44% live in households with $75,000+ income. More than half are between 35-54 years old. And they are evenly split male (51%) to female (49%). |
| July 18, 2001 |
When do you go over your station's web site logs? Then, once you do, what action is taken to respond to what those logs tell you? Now there are attempts to establish an e-metrics system which sharpens response of site visitors: page visits, duration of visit, anything the user is willing to tell you. Sometimes you must revamp what's there to improve browse-to-buy ratios (all users are buying something, even if they use time as payment). |
| Feb. 4, 2002 |
Radio commercials are like cigarettes: they cost a lot, are mostly filled with hot air, and haven't changed much since the fifties. |
| Oct. 4, 2002 |
This threatened death of webcasters is being driven by more than the record industry's urge to control music online. If you look, you'll see an industry setting the stage for using the Internet in lieu of radio as a music introduction platform. |
| March 31, 2003 |
Like millions of educated people across America you've probably increased time spent online, the number of sites visited, and the credibility you give to what is found online. You have become an habitual net user. Don't think advertisers haven't noticed. |
More Forecasts, Warnings, and Comments: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
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