By Steve Lapa
Lapcom Communications Corp
President
Will video save the radio star? I hope so.
The tea leaves have become abundantly clear. Start understanding the impact of stand-alone video offered by your radio station or forever consider yourself outdated. Are you listening, all you great programming and production gurus out there in talk radio land. The up-and-coming generation is in line to take over and we had better start shifting the development wheels into hyper-gear today.
Everything new is new and everything old is suspect. Think about this:
1. How many times have you logged into Facetime or your favorite video platform purely for the sake of staying in touch? An entire generation is being raised on video calls and remote work. Can linear talk radio carve out a future in this video intense environment?
2. I can hear the old school managers barking, “There will always be in-car listening.” True, but commute times and days are changing regularly with remote work becoming the norm. In-car audio listening is changing before your very ears.
3. Have you digested the most recent research metrics? Sorry old schoolers, the days of 95% of homes listening to terrestrial radio are over. Ever watch the preschoolers ask Alexa or Google to read them a book?
4. Young parents under 40 are now limiting “screen time.” The key word is “limit.” Doesn’t that speak volumes?
How do we turn video integration into a sales winner for radio?
1. Stop denying the trend. Embrace the wave and ride it to profitability.
2. Focus on what sells. That “security camera” look in the on-air studio is embarrassing. Start having a real dialogue internally about what it takes to win dollars in this newly competitive world.
3. Reinvent yourself. Do not be slow to move forward. This video world moves at hyper speed and leaves laggards in the dust.
4. Not everyone will make the cut. Some of your talent will work better in the video world than others. Remember this is all relatively new to terrestrial radio. As your team navigates the way through these uncharted waters communication is critical.
The foundation is still solid. Many advertisers are comfortable with radio/audio that delivers the results they expect. Those advertisers are the rock-solid foundation every radio station needs. But eyes on the future are important as we all deal with single digit growth in competitive sales markets around the country.
Steve Lapa is the president of Lapcom Communications Corp. based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Lapcom is a media sales, marketing, and development consultancy. Contact Steve Lapa via email at: Steve@Lapcomventures.com.