(Photo courtesy of Steve Melewski’s Twitter account)
I had the pleasure of being joined by MASN Sports’ Steve Melewski to talk all things Baltimore Orioles. Steve gave insight on what his biggest surprise of the season was as well as what moves the Orioles could make this offseason. There was also talk about a potential Manny Machado extension and more.
Well it is definitely that time of year again. Everywhere you look there are Black Friday ads and Christmas ads. They can sometimes get very annoying, but they do a good job of driving home their point! The problem is holiday shopping ads come earlier and earlier every year. Shoppers are making their purchases earlier than ever for the holiday season. Industry forecasts predict a 3.5% to 4.5% increase in retail sales this season. According to Insider Radio, station managers keep close watch on holiday shopping trends, as retail is one of radio’s biggest categories. Radio stations are hoping for a robust ad market because retail ads typically drive advertisement spending in the fourth quarter.
Generally people think television does the best job of informing potential customers about amazing deals they can receive by shopping at a specific store. Radio, however, definitely influences higher retail sales during the holiday season as well. Pierre Bouvard, chief marketing officer for Cumulus Media and Westwood One, says radio offers advertisers unparalleled access, reaching 180 million Americans on Black Friday and 63% of adults age 25 to 54, according to Nielsen.
The important aspect of radio advertisement is it connects with the consumer at work and on the go. Bouvard also said radio ads are effective for both traditional stores and online retailers. Radio is the most used media from 6am to 7pm which provides the best time to hit the consumer with retail ads. This is due to the fact that most retail stores are open during their work time and often open after the consumer leaves work. The same exposure helps online retailers as well because a consumer may hear an ad while at work and then go online during the workday or later that evening. Radio stations also frequently offer the last word a shopper hears before going into a store. According to Insider Radio, last summer when Amazon staged its one-day Prime event, radio was credited with the highest conversion of advertising awareness to purchase, surpassing online and TV ads. This definitely illustrates the fact that radio is still a premier marketing media.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!
As I previously wrote, Pandora recently acquired the rights to “Serial,” the most popular podcast ever produced. This is definitely a move that will undoubtedly be a huge boost to the exposure of podcasts, provided more are added to Pandora. Pandora has also recently been in the news for buying out rival Rdio on November 16. Pandora appears to be struggling and is looking for new ways to boost revenues which could explain the move to buy out Rdio.
Pandora has long been a thorn in the side of traditional radio because of its convenience factor and the much lighter load of commercials. Pandora currently has over 75 million active monthly listeners. They seemed like an unstoppable force, but now their business model is in doubt.
Pandora is looking for a new subscription service that would generate a revenue stream; they are hoping the acquisition of Rdio will provide that. Pandora made the $75 million deal with the aim of using Rdio’s technology to launch a new premium, on-demand subscription service to compete with the likes of Spotify, according to Media Life. Pandora currently has a subscription tier, but it is not widely used. The current problem with Pandora isn’t generating ad revenue; it is the fact that the ad revenue isn’t growing fast enough to keep up with the high cost of content. This has been a looming problem for years. According to Media Life, the cost of streaming music jumped 90 percent in the third quarter. Ad revenue grew 31 percent. Content costs ate up $215 million of the $255 million in ad revenue brought in that quarter. These expenses are expected to keep creeping higher and higher. So this bears the question- how much longer can Pandora continue to sustain these content costs rising much faster than ad revenue?
Pandora cannot be faulted for its lack of trying. The digital radio service last month also purchased TicketFly an online ticket sales company, in an effort to add more dimension to its offerings. Hopefully, these new acquisitions to the company can help Pandora stay afloat. Not too long ago critics believed traditional radio could potentially succumb to Pandora and now Pandora is at risk of going under.
CBS Radio Production Studio (Photo By Tim Barbalace/TU Student)
Podcasting has been around for more than 10 years. The problem is it hasn’t caught on as quickly as some had hoped. Currently, podcasting is as popular as it has ever been, but it still has plenty of room to grow. Currently one-third of Americans age twelve and over have listened to a podcast only once. Only 49 percent of people actually know what a podcast is. All of these statistics considered, podcasting is finally poised for growth.
So what is podcasting? A podcast consists of digital audio files that people can download and listen to at their convenience. Some podcasts are just taped versions of a radio show. Other podcasts are web-exclusive and can consist of episodic series. Anyone can make a podcast and there are podcasts on pretty much every topic.
Pandora, the country’s biggest online radio service, has acquired rights to “Serial,” the most popular podcast ever produced. “Serial” follows producer and presenter Sarah Koenig as she delves into the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, an 18-year-old high school student from Baltimore County, Maryland. On Nov. 24, “Serial” will be available for streaming on Pandora. This is hopefully just the beginning of third party delivery systems of podcasts. If “Serial” does really well on Pandora, there is no doubt Pandora would push further into podcasting. This could mean a huge new audience for podcasting through Pandora, which has more than 75 million active monthly listeners.
Pandora’s move to stream podcasts came months after rival Spotify made podcasts available. Spotify formed a partnership with Comedy Central and Vice Media. Spotify has over 20 million paid subscribers that have access to these podcasts. These third party delivery systems will undoubtedly be a huge boost to the exposure of podcasts. Hopefully, the podcasts already available on Pandora and Spotify will be successful, so that will open the door to more and more podcasts being streamed from these services. It is puzzling that podcasting hasn’t experienced much growth over the past 10 years considering how easy and cheap they are to produce. In addition to this, podcasts are very accessible as many of them are located in iTunes or websites across the internet. With the advent of podcasts being streamed on Pandora and Spotify, their audience will grow far more quickly than it did in the previous 10 years.
XTSR Studio (Photo By Tim Barbalace/TU Student)
Radio was not infallible to a down turn from the drop-off of the economy back in 2008. Profits and revenues have been in a decline since 2004. What is interesting is how little the U.S. radio industry has changed within the past eleven years.
The market share of the top 10 radio groups is down slightly, to 48.5 percent of total over-the-air ad revenues in 2014 from 49.9 percent in 2004, according to BIA/Kelsey. The top two radio groups by revenue, iHeartMedia and CBS Radio, have shrunk their total number of stations owned over the last 10 years. The number of radio stations still remains around 11,800. U.S. Radio peaked in their revenue in 2007, right before the economy collapsed, at $21.2 billion. Radio reached its low point of revenue in 2010 at $16 billion, a big drop from 2007. However, radio is starting to come out of the recent recession. In 2014, the overall revenue ascended to $17.4 billion and Zenith is forecasting $17.6 billion for this year. Throughout the recent tumble in revenue, the top 10 radio owners, led by iHeartMedia and CBS Radio, remained firmly entrenched in their upper echelon ratings, although their revenue did suffer as well.
As we recently discussed, radio’s ratings are at an all-time high. Radio is slowly making a climb in revenue after their recent tumble. The all-time high ratings should be very encouraging in order to continue to climb back to the recent highs in revenue. At the end of the day, I do not think radio is going to go anywhere anytime soon. It is also important to realize for those interested in getting into the field of radio that it is difficult to make crazy money. That being said it is possible to have a lucrative career if you can draw a big audience and are entrenched in a major market. The real motive to get involved in radio should be for the passion to talk about or work for your specific interest. Radio is about having fun and enjoying what you are doing. Most people in radio say that they don’t feel like they are actually working. The people and experiences you create are ultimately invaluable.
105.7 The Fan Studio (Photo By Tim Barbalace/TU Student)
Radio is definitely alive and well. Believe it or not “Radio” is the second-most-common activity on smartphones, behind social media usage, according to comScore. Radio is also looking at ways on how to reinvent itself.
The radio industry is experimenting with the idea of activation of FM chips in smartphones. This idea would be very intriguing. There are already several apps such as Tune In, Radio One, Pandora, and Iheart Radio that all have radio capabilities. This would bring into question if it is necessary to include an FM chip in a smart phone when there are apps already capable of accessing radio stations. I think there will always be a place for radio in media. As long as there are cars there will always be radios inside of them for people to listen to. Radio has been a staple in media for a long time and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
The other avenue of radio that has made a resurgence is podcasting. PodcastOne is currently delivering 400 million ad impressions per month, according to Norm Pattiz. I think podcasting is a great way for the average person to gain public exposure and, if done well enough, develop a potential radio career. Podcasting is also a very cheap way to channel something a person is passionate about. Anyone can do a podcast on any topic.
The topics of radio and podcasting mean a lot to me because they are career avenues I plan to pursue after college. My goal is to be an on-air host of a sports talk show. Currently, I am employed at CBS Radio as a producer for 105.7 The Fan and I am also a promotions assistant. I love my job and being able to produce shows on 105.7 has been a tremendous experience for me. Being able to have the opportunity to talk on air on occasion has been something I really enjoy. I also host a show on Mondays and Fridays on Towson University’s student radio station XTSR. I plan on starting my own podcast at the beginning of 2016. I see this podcast as a way to gain more experience and exposure that I could use on my resume for future potential employment.
Harpal Bains is actively involved on campus and participates in clubs and sports while enrolled in the honors college. (Photo by Tim Barbalace/ TU Student)
Towson University Freshman Harpal Bains has participated in a variety of activities Towson has to offer. Currently, Bains is on the club rugby team here at Towson. Bains is also about to become the vice president of the South Asia Student Association. In addition to all of this, Bains is enrolled in the honors college here at Towson University and is maintaining high grades. Watch below as we take a peek into what he has experienced in his first semester. Also click here to read a feature story done about him.
Towson University commuter students face the challenge of being involved on campus. (Photo by Tim Barbalace/TU Student
Some Towson University commuter students have struggled to feel as involved as on-campus students. Many believe there is a lack of activities provided for off campus students to feel involved with the university Listen to this story to learn about ways to get involved in organizations such as the Commuter Student Organization and events such as commuter appreciation day.
Students patiently waiting for their breakfast at Starbucks located in Cook Library of Towson University (Photo by Tim Barbalace/TU Student
Beep. Beep. Beep. It is 9 a.m. Robby Walsh, a Towson University student, wakes up and prepares to get ready for his 10 a.m. class. He takes a shower, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, and heads out the door for class.
This seems like a normal morning routine but something important is missing.
Walsh is one of over 31 million Americans who skip breakfast every day, according to the Huffington Post.
“I would rather sleep in longer then eat breakfast,” said Walsh. “I just don’t have the time to eat breakfast.” (more…)
Wow! It is hard to believe we are halfway through the semester! Everything has been going well and I am having a lot of fun. I am satisfied with my performance in all of my classes so far. MCOM 258 has just started this week and it seems like it will be an interesting class. I started dorming on campus this year for the first time and I am loving it. I have met a lot of people and made some good memories. I recently just got the 6-12 Sunday morning time slot to run boards for. This is exciting because I will be producing and running live shows. I am pretty satisfied with how things are right now and I hope everything is going well for you all too!
tim barbalace 