On Wednesday at the Radio Show in Austin, David Field was presented with the National Radio Award by the National Association of Broadcasters. The award honors an individual who is an outstanding leader in the radio industry. In accepting the award, Field, who has always been one of radio’s biggest cheerleaders, continued with his consistent theme that radio is punching below its weight.
He has never swayed from his long-held belief that radio is undervalued or his confidence that radio delivers results for advertisers much better than any other media. Here’s more of what Field had to say: He believes radio’s “aim is too low, and we reach it.” He told the packed Radio Luncheon crowd that he doesn’t believe in the radio naysayers who say that flat revenue is the new up. “We are so much better than that,” he said. “We are the most undervalued medium. We are the least disrupted media. You can reach more people, get better results for far less money, using radio. We need to start acting like it.”
Field believes there is no reason radio shouldn’t be growing in the mid-single digits every year. He said radio has been overlooked by Madison Avenue for far too long, and he plans to help change that when Entercom’s merger with CBS Radio closes.
Field said radio needs to increase its investment in advocacy, and he praised iHeart, Westwood One’s Pierre Bouvard, and others for the studies and data they provide on the effectiveness of radio. And when the CBS/Entercom merger is complete, the new company will be making a serious investment in advocacy for the radio industry.
