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800.275.2840 MORE NEWS» insideradio.com THE MOST TRUSTED NEWS IN RADIO THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015 Entercom’s Field Sees Radio’s Reach Gaining Traction. The recent wave of studies from Nielsen showing radio delivers substantial ROI for advertisers, coupled with the medium supplanting TV as the nation’s No. 1 reach outlet, is changing the radio narrative for the positive, Entercom CEO David Field said yesterday. Those validations are beginning to gain traction, Field said, positioning radio to garner a larger share of ad dollars. The seeds for bringing radio’s perception closer to its reality were first sown when Nielsen purchased Arbitron in late 2013, Field said. That brought “much better data and much better analysis of radio attributes than ever before,” he told the crowd at the Wells Fargo Securities Tech, Media & Telecom Conference in New York. Field contrasted Nielsen’s finding that radio surpassed television in reach with the current state of the TV industry, which is facing a rash of cord-cutting among Millennials. “Many leading brands have demonstrated higher efficacy in the form of ROI for radio than they have for alternative mediums like television, digital and so forth,” Field said. “There is a great story out there.” The rap on radio has already changed in the consumer press, he noted, where the bulk of stories written about the medium have slowly shifted from negative to positive during the past several years. “Radio has a great opportunity now as the narrative begins to change to begin to see a greater share of the media mix going forth,” Field said. “I do think it’s getting some traction and I do think we’ll see payoff with that going forward. Because radio’s rightful share of the ad pie is a helleuva lot bigger than the 7% we’re getting right now.” Entercom “On a Roll” in Q3. “We’ve been on a roll here,” Entercom CEO David Field told the Wells Fargo Securities Tech, Media & Telecom Conference yesterday. Based on recent activity, it would be tough to argue with that statement. In the third quarter the company posted 4% topline growth, minus political, outperforming the industry. Within the first 90 days of closing its $105 million purchase of Lincoln Financial Media, Entercom doubled the margins on its new parcel of stations. The deal “made a lot of sense for us,” Field said, because it passed the Entercom litmus test of providing a good strategic fit and creating shareholder value without impairing the company’s balance sheet. Field contrasted that with the ABC Radio and Citadel deals which he said Entercom “walked away from when the bidding got too heated.” Responding to a question, Field nixed any speculation that Entercom might be interested in acquiring Cumulus Media, saying it didn’t fit Entercom’s acquisition criteria. “It’s hard to see how they sell their way out of this issue,” Field said about Cumulus. “It’s not particularly appealing for us to use our balance sheet to lever up to acquire their assets to solve their, you know, whatever they might have.” Field predicted more industry consolidation ahead, which he said would be beneficial for the industry. But he stressed that Entercom wasn’t interested in pursuing anything that would increase its risk profile. Seeing Nielsen’s Value—Field had nothing but good things to say about the measurement giant’s new encoders; read about it at InsideRadio.com. Sides Sound Off As House Listening Tour Hits L.A. The House Judiciary Committee “listening tour” on copyright reform rolled up to the UCLA campus yesterday for the second of two West Coast roundtable discussions. Taking place in the music industry mecca of Los Angeles, a portion of the discussion covered the controversial topic of music royalties. Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) suggested there might be a “potential deal” between broadcasters that think they pay too much in streaming royalties, and songwriters and artists who believe they receive too little. “Streaming rates are too [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 1 NEWS insideradio.com THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015 high,” Terry Fahy, VP/GM at Salem Communications, Los Angeles said, according to Variety. “It’s inhibiting radio to invest in streaming programming….It is clearly not a win for the public as far as audio choices go.” Goodlatte, citing broadcast radio’s decades-old performance royalty exemption, brought up his deal suggestion, which Fahey responded to by noting that radio, compared to other audio services, is “completely free” and provides “a uniquely local focus that a lot of other mediums do not do.” “But isn’t Pandora completely free?” Goodlatte asked. “No, because you have to pay for Internet access and data rate,” Fahy answered. “I’ve got to buy a radio, and if I want to listen on satellite radio, I have got to pay for that service,” Goodlatte said. The idea that royalty issues between broadcasters and labels could be solved by free market deals rather than government mandates received support from Dina LaPolt, attorney adviser to Songwriters of America and representative for Steven Tyler. “If we are all going to work together to move forward to the future, we have to stop all the fighting,” LaPolt said, according to Variety. “We have to start making deals.” Pierre Bouvard Sees Ford Singing Radio’s Praises. Cumulus/Westwood One CMO Pierre Bouvard continues to enlighten the radio industry via his blog, which offers a new post about radio’s continued importance to auto advertisers. Writing from Detroit’s recent DASH conference, he shares constructive comments from Mark LaNeve, Ford’s VP of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. LaNeve gave props to radio as a great storytelling medium, for its immediate scale, and for that incontrovertible fact—it gets results. In the post, Bouvard writes that LaNeve said radio’s storytelling capability can highlight key areas of auto product difference, such as safety and technology, while promoting urgency to launch sales events. The auto exec also said that radio is “one of the few places you can get scale. Radio provides scale and high ROI at a reasonable cost.” LaNeve also said that Ford had some of its best sales months in August and September because of “one big difference: We kicked it out with 10 million bucks of television and radio.” And he pointed to reaching buyers in their cars, which allows customization for geography, demographics and lifestyle preferences. Bouvard also discussed the Ford Dealer Association’s mandate that requires all ad buys to devote 25% to digital media. After a slow uptake from dealers, he shares that this 25% digital dictate will not likely continue under LaNeve’s purview, quoting the exec: “I have told the team, I’m not into digital mandates. I want to do what works, I want digital excellence. We will relieve them of that mandate. The spending will sort itself out.” WRQX Looks For Jack Diamond To Shine In Return. It’s been over two years since WRQX ditched its long-running “Mix 107.3” format, anchored by morning man Jack Diamond. Cumulus Media is bringing both back to the Washington, DC dial starting Friday when WRQX rebrands and flips to all-Christmas music to build cume for its return to hot AC. To succeed with the comeback of Diamond and “Mix 107.3” will require research, marketing and some updating, according to consultant Alan Burns, who programmed the station from 1979-85 during its CHR “Q107” era. “They have some built-in awareness and affection for the station and Jack,” Burns tells Inside Radio. Diamond was a major component of the “Mix” brand for 24 years, until April 2013 when the station didn’t renew his reported seven-figure contract after a ratings decline. “But they will start in a hole because in the interim, some listeners have formed other habits and other affiliations,” Burns says. Under new PD Louie Diaz, WRQX faces fierce competition in the battle for adult women, including from iHeartMedia AC WASH-FM, which tied for third place in Nielsen’s October survey with a 5.9 share of listeners aged 6+. Programmed by former “Mix” PD Kenny King, WASH-FM owns the Christmas position in Washington. “Mix” will more directly compete with CBS Radio’s “94.7 Fresh FM,” a very current version of hot AC programed by Steve Davis, which ranked 10th in October with a 3.8. The strength of CHR “Hot 99-5” WIHT (tied with sister WASH-FM for third place) complicates the situation, since the mainstreaming of CHR has made it a big winner with adult women. WRQX ranked 18th in October with a 2.1 share of listeners aged 6+. Diamond’s Back in D.C., But Will They Tune In? Ask Washington DC-area listeners and many will say they welcome the return of onetime favorite son Jack Diamond to WRQX and its “Mix 107.3” format. But ask consultant Alan Burns and he’ll say the station has plenty to do to return the show to both form and former prominence. To effectively compete [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 2 NEWS insideradio.com THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015 will require, among other things, some strict attention to research, Burns says. “You’re looking for the strengths and the weaknesses and the opportunities,” he tells Inside Radio. TV and online marketing will be needed, he adds. But before the marketing begins, parent Cumulus Media will first need to determine which is the more relevant message—that Mix is back, or that Diamond is.