 Labor Day musings: Blame it on bad luck...again? ·Sep 2, 08:36 AM Today’s guest blog is “Mason’s Morning Minute,” by consultant Alan Mason: “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” — Niccolo Machiavelli I don’t know about where you were, but here in Northern California it was a wonderful Labor Day weekend, complete with blue skies and lots of sun. But we’ll talk about how red a person can turn from being in the sun another time. Sitting in the backyard of Eric Rhoads’s house during the Labor Day weekend, it was no surprise to us, or our wives, when the discussion turned to radio. At one point Eric noted that this is the seventh year in a row that radio has seen shrinking revenue. Yes, I’m aware of how Detroit reacts to poor economic news, and yes they tend to blame the tastes of the consumer, but no one seems as oblivious as radio. When a statement is released that we’re off again, and it’s blamed on a bad economy, who are we fooling? The reason we’re off in revenue again is because what we’re doing isn’t working! If I were a board member of one of the big radio conglomerates I’d be asking management why they keep with the same strategy when there is absolutely no evidence it is working for us, and in fact is working against us. I’d say the thinking is Machiavellian, but even Niccolo knew enough to recognize the need for change. It makes you wonder what the large b-schools are teaching, or whether some of our “leaders” were simply asleep the day when the professors talked about actually measuring your strategy in terms of success. Whether your name is Mark of Farid, or one of the other industry giants, here’s my forecast for 2009: Dudes, what you’re doing isn’t working. Check your balance sheet, and then your schoolbooks and you’ll see that. It isn’t a problem with the economy, it’s a problem with what you’re doing. ——————— share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
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That of course started me thinking, about how many other industries would decline seven years in a row and blame it on bad luck.
Of course! For decades, terrestrial radio has accepted the incentives of the major record labels to concentrate on marketing their product, essentially filling airtime with one big commercial interrupted by shorter ones. As the listening public has drifted away, the response has been to consolidate and “economize” on the remaining value-added features of radio—news, local features and other things that might command the public’s attention. Now, to add injury to insult, the RIAA is demanding that broadcasters actually pay for the “privelege” of helping sell their (still mediocre) product. What’s next, paying Proctor and Gamble for permission to hawk detergent?
— Art Marriott · Sep 2, 02:04 PM · #