800.275.2840 MORE NEWS» insideradio.com THE MOST TRUSTED NEWS IN RADIO MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2014 Agency chief says radio is ‘massively underutilized’ by advertisers. The chief executive of one of the most revered ad agencies says advertisers are missing the boat when it comes to radio. Andrew Robertson, global CEO of BBDO, says many New York-based advertising executives don’t grasp radio’s pervasiveness because of their own personal experiences, and that has resulted in enormous under-usage of the medium by agencies and marketers. “We have to be very weary of extrapolating our own experiences,” the head of the 125 year-old agency said during an interview on Bloomberg TV’s “Market Makers.” “If you live in New York, you are not aware of radio advertising the way you are if you live in L.A. or Atlanta or any of the other big cities around the states where people spend a lot of time in their cars,” Robertson said. The head of the shop named by Adweek as the 2014 Global Agency of the Year then proceeded to make nothing short of an endorsement for radio: “There are still huge, huge radio audiences and, frankly, it is a massively underutilized medium because people don’t think to use it as readily as other media,” he said. Widely regarded as the frontrunner to succeed John Wren at BBDO holding company the Omnicom Group, Roberston grew BBDO’s global revenue by 4.5% this year to $1.57 billion. Pittman: Digital has expanded radio listening. For a second consecutive year, readers of Adweek voted iHeartRadio the Hottest Music App of 2014. The online radio app captured 44% of the votes, beating Spotify (31.9%) and Pandora (21.3%). The distinction is part of the ad industry magazine’s annual Hot List issue, which honors standout media properties. Appearing on the Charlie Rose show, iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman said digital technology has expanded radio listening by giving it the 21st century equivalent of a transistor radio. “We found another radio,” Pittman said. “You have your clock radio, car radio, office radio and now you have one that you carry around with you.” Rather than hurting radio, Pittman made the case that digital has helped the medium by getting people more interested in music. He contrasted radio with Spotify and iTunes (“that’s where you store your music”) and said the two different types of services are symbiotic. “I speak to the world with my music but I find out what’s going on in the world with radio,” he said. Readers’ poll: Majority of all-holiday stations report increased ad demand in December. Stations that own the all- Christmas position in their market frequently reap a ratings bonanza during the holiday season. How does that impact billing? An unscientific Inside Radio poll of stations that aired the holiday format in 2014 and 2013 underscores how the format’s revenue impact varies dramatically from station to station. A majority indicated the format increases advertising demand, with 36% reporting a slight increase and 28% staying the increase in demand is substantial. Two-thirds of respondents (64%) said they attribute 10%-25% of their station’s December revenue to the all-Christmas format. About one-fourth said it accounted for 10% or less of their December revenue. “It’s difficult to measure if the increase is due specifically to the holiday music or the promotions we air during the holidays,” one respondent said. “The promotions, however, seem to fit best with the holiday music format; and with the listenership shift, the format helps us sell more of the holiday promotions.” The poll results show a 50-50 split in the number of stations that are able to charge a premium for ads while airing the holiday format. Among those that do charge a premium, the vast majority (85%) said it’s in the 10%-25% range. Four in ten Christmas stations polled said they expect a 10%-25% revenue increase in December from the format while one-third (32%) expect a boost of less than 10%. FCC proposes phase-in for mandatory online public files. The FCC is moving forward with its proposal to require radio stations to post their public inspection files online. But in a nod to the logistical complications of a service with 15,433 stations [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 1 NEWS insideradio.com MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2014 — many in small, rural towns with potentially no access to broadband – the agency has proposed phasing in the mandate over the next several years. The first stations required to post their public file online will be those in the top 50 markets and stations with five or more full-time employees. All other stations will get an additional two years to prepare for the mandate, although they’d be able to begin posting earlier if they voluntarily choose to. The staggering is similar to the requirement that the FCC used when rolling out online public files to the television industry. The FCC proposes any stations with fewer than five-full time employees will, as with the EEO requirements, be permanently exempt from the rule. Noncommercial stations would also get a pass. With TV’s transition to online public files less disruptive than first feared, the National Association of Broadcasters didn’t oppose the same requirement for radio — but it had pushed regulators to carve out exemptions for small stations with skeleton staffs and little money to bring on manpower to meet a new mandate. In its tentative outline passed by the five commissioners last week, the FCC says it recognizes that there’s a big difference between small radio and television stations. “We believe our proposal addresses many of the concerns raised regarding radio stations that may have fewer resources,” the agency says. “This delayed transition will assist small stations to budget for any initial costs to upload documents to the file and any extra staff time required for this effort.” What will go into the new online public file? It’s billed as a “modernization” of the public file rules which date back to 1938. But as radio’s public file transitions from a cabinet in the station’s lobby to an FCC-hosted online database, little will change in terms of content. Stations will still be required to maintain, among other things, FCC authorizations, applications, contour maps, ownership reports, EEO materials, issues/programs lists, and time brokerage or local marketing agreements. The political file will also still be required to be part of the documents offered to the public, including data showing the spot rates charged and the class of time purchased by federal candidates — information which will still be required to be retained for at least two years. “In general we expect that these files will be smaller for radio stations than for television stations as fewer political advertisements air on radio,” the FCC says in its proposal. Letters from the public would also be posted online, unless a writer asked it be kept off the web. Social media messages however would be exempt. The agency has also tentatively rejected a request by public broadcasters to allow stations to keep donor lists out of the online file. But the FCC says that’s required for TV and it sees no reason to treat public radio differently. Just about the only difference with an online file is the FCC plans to allow the public to create a digital contour map. Pai: FCC needs to be ‘sensitive’ to stations without web access. FCC chair Tom Wheeler has said more needs to be done to bring high-speed internet connections to rural America, but for the time being there are wide swaths of the country that don’t have broadband. As requirements for an online public file are contemplated, FCC commissioner Ajit Pai says that needs to be taken into consideration. “I intend to pay particular attention to the feedback we receive from small radio stations,” Pai says. He points to his trip to Fort Yukon, Alaska last year, to Gwandak Public Broadcasting’s “Radio 900” KZPA, where he found a station with “extremely limited” resources. “We should be sensitive to the fact that KZPA and many other stations like it just don’t have the bodies and bandwidth to handle every regulatory requirement Washington might conjure,” he says. But with even Pai supporting a requirement other stations put their public files online, the comment period on the proposal over the next two months isn’t likely to sideline the mandate from being adopted in the coming year. Orlando’s new ‘Wolf’ bridges country’s past and present. Those who believe country is destined for more fragmentation in 2015 can now point to Orlando as another market to help make their case. JVC Media’s “103.1 The Wolf” WOTW, which launched Friday, is positioned as “country hits and throwbacks.” It’s taking on Cox Media Group’s top-rated “K-92 FM” WWKA by offering an alternative, “a country station that’s not afraid to play throwbacks,” as one of the upstart station’s slogans puts it. Big current and recurrent hits from Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Scotty McCreery and Blake Shelton make up the bulk of “The Wolf” playlist. But it’s weaving more gold into the mix than the average country station. Heard in its first several hours were Alan Jackson’s “Little Bitty” and “Southern Man,” Alabama’s “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas,” Brooks & Dunn’s “Lost and Found,” Ricochet’s “Daddy’s Money” and other hits from the ‘90s and latter half of the ‘80s.