Running on the treadmill yesterday, we caught the tail end of a song that immediately brought us back 25 years.
It was Falco's timeless hit Der Kommissar.
Like many people in that situation, we came home looking to hear the whole song again.
So what did we do?
Turn on the radio hoping to hear the song?
Dig out our CDs or even our iPod looking for the song?
Nope...went on to YouTube and quickly found several different versions of the song, including this gem of a medley which included the original Falco version, the English version from After the Fire, and our favorite, Laura Branigan's "Deep in the Dark":
Ok, so we were just kidding that we liked Laura Branigan's version the best...but the point is that this medley was available for those crazy 80's buffs.
This experience with YouTube does point to some fundamental weaknesses with the traditional radio programming model. People want things on demand.
And radio is not alone in facing this challenge.
The recent article in the New York Times indicates that people increasingly view traditional movie viewing options as outdated and want to watch movies on demand..even if this means doing something illegal.
“Young people, in particular, conclude that if it’s so easy, it can’t be wrong,” said Richard Cotton, the general counsel for NBC Universal.
The longer traditional media companies put off creating comprehensive digital strategies, the more likely people will look to alternative illegal options.
After seeing what Napster did to the music business, the fact that movie studios have not embraced legal online channels like Hulu and Youtube is inexcusable.
So the radio's slow adoption of digital technologies like HD Radio and online radio is not unique to them. Fear of cannibalizing their analog cash cows is real, but the alternative is worse...losing customers to illegal channels with the chance of losing ALL Revenue.
Alles Klar, Kommissar David Rehr!
Friday, February 6, 2009
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2 comments:
"So the radio's slow adoption of digital technologies like HD Radio and online radio is not unique to them. Fear of cannibalizing their analog cash cows is real, but the alternative is worse...losing customers to illegal channels with the chance of losing ALL Revenue."
"Radio: HD Radio's holiday horror"
"We already have too many radio stations on terrestrial AM and FM... If every man, woman and child in this great country of ours had complete and total access to HD Radio – it would obliterate the radio industry. You’d have listeners spread out on to too many radio stations for any one station to show effective reach and frequency. Do the math. This blue sky world for HD Radio would put all radio out of business. No one station would have enough listeners to justify advertising."
http://tinyurl.com/6omhpv
HD Radio's side-channels are not the answer.
Here's what I can't figure out. While HD promises so many great benefits, the fact is any gains in HD listening will have to directly come from AM/FM listening. I mean, unless more people all of a sudden start listening to radio, how else will HD gain market share? it's impossible! It's like 90 new stores just opened up on main street and the population hasn't increased to support this influx of new stores. Plus these new merchants will be challenged to market merchandise already found on the rack down the street.
It's unlikely listeners 12-24 will suddenly return to radio because of HD. This generation's time and interests are elsewhere. According to a soon-to-be released multinational survey commissioned by Deloitte, three-quarters of Millennials (ages 14 to 25) view the computer as more of an entertainment device than their television. Across borders and cultures, these prized young consumers are demonstrating striking similarities in their media consumption preferences and behaviors — truly a “global early-adopter generation.”
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/press_release/0,1014,sid%3D2283%26cid%3D242616,00.html
Digital and analog living side by side creates more unforeseen challenges. Media buyers won’t purchase HD stations that don’t show, or are last in ratings? Depending on the market, they’ll go 3 or 5 deep and let the bottom feeders get scraps. Broadcasters have their hands full cluster selling and maximizing revenues. The last thing they need is more inventory left unsold. I get the added value argument. But in my mind added value is free and drives your average rate down, not up. And only trains advertisers to expect free.
Nothing matters in this world but ratings and revenues and HD has a huge mountain to climb. Plus, we all know the impact on ratings by gaining or losing just a handful of diaries. I mean it can make or break a book.
In addition, I’m not certain applying the old rules will work in a digital radio world. At least not the one we’ve created where digital and analog will survive side by side for the foreseeable future.
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