David Field is very consistent in his message and he’ll tell anybody and everybody who will listen. He’s one of radio’s best storytellers and he wants everyone to know radio deserves more than it’s getting from advertisers and that radio remains as strong as ever with listeners.
PR Week, the magazine and website for public relations executives, published a July 3 article called “Entercom CEO: Radio is Ripe For Rediscovery in Era of Disruption.” In the article, Field continues to use his position as the CEO of one of radio’s largest companies, to promote the industry he’s been a part of for decades. “The biggest issue we have right now is, for a lot of advertisers and agencies, we’re not the shiny new toy. Radio is ripe for rediscovery in an era when other media are being disrupted to quite an extent. Radio is unique in its ability to generate live real-time ads to large audiences,” Field explains. “There are very few ways to do that anymore, so the future is bright for radio advertising.”
Entercom’s Head of Public Relations, and one of Radio Ink‘s 2018 Most Influential Women in Radio, Esther-Mireya Tejeda, is also quoted in the story. Tejeda said in a time when social media is populated by fake news, bots, and political rancor, brands are turning to the relatively safe environment of radio, where music, sports, and talk content are “carefully curated.”
The article also credits podcasting with pushing more people back to radio. Podcasting company Marketplace’s Chief Brand Officer Emilie Cotter is behind that thought. “Audiences are attracted to the rich, intimate storytelling of audio, which forces listeners to actively consume content and ‘lean in.'”
Entercom is also a big believer in podcasting, having invested in podcast network DGital Media after the CBS merger closed.
How about using your influence & scale to take on Nielsen’s anemic sample sizes and questionable methodology! That’s the industry battle that no one seems interested in fighting…..unless it’s being done behind closed doors. Either way, they’ve never been weaker…..see “LA recall”!
A great big, fat and juicy “attaboy” for David.
Now, all he has to do – and singlehanded, since nobody else is willing to take on the task – is to make radio appealing enough for audiences and advertisers to reengage.
(I am chiding David because I am a chider.)
Field has been saying this for years – he’s simply rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The SS Radio is still sinking.