ORLANDO,
FL --RAB President and CEO Erica Farber gave opening remarks this afternoon during
the 2013 Radio Show produced by NAB and RAB.
Below is
the full-text of Farber's prepared remarks.
Thank you.
I am delighted to welcome you to the Radio Show. By being here, your presence
shows your dedication and enthusisam for this great business we all live and
breathe everyday.
I'd like
to thank and recognize all of the sponsors and exhibitors at this year's show.
I want to thank our great partners at the NAB - John David, Gordon Smith and
the entire team who we have worked so closely together with to produce this
year's Radio Show.
It is also
my pleasure to acknowledge the advertisers who were participants at this
mornings "Advertiser Speak!" panel and, of course, State Farm and
their agency partner, OMD, who joined us for lunch today. On behalf of everyone
in this room, we appreciate your time, knowledge and insights and of course
your business. Having a strong dialogue with our advertising partners is
critical.
I've been
at the RAB for a little more than a year and a half and during this time I have
seen the impact of positive energy across the industry. Radio continues to be a
healthy industry at $17.6 billion. Interestingly enough, it is still greater
than some of the newer area of business like Online Video at $2.1 billion and
Mobile at $2.9 billion. And unlike some other media, radio has taken an
aggressive stand and taken advantage of technology to deliver content listeners
want, in whatever format they want and when they want it. And advertisers
recognize the importance of delivering their ad messages across all of radio's
platforms including radio's fastest growing segment - Digital.
Reaching a
high of $767 million in 2012, Digital grew thirteen percent to $401 million by
the first-half of this year - that's over eighty percent higher than the first
half of 2009.
Communications,
Financial, Automotive, TV/Networks/Cable, and Restaurants continue to be
radio's top spending categories. Radio has also realized growth from
advertisers in mid-tier categories like Professional Services and Casinos. We
need to continue to position radio to capture dollars from new categories as
well as identify new dollars from existing advertisers. We have a great
opportunity right now with consumer messaging regarding the Affordable Care
Act, estimated to reach $1 billion by 2015 according to Kantar Media. Some of
you have already taken a first step. Nearly five hundred people attended the
RAB webinar last month focused on how to develop and uncover new and evolving
revenue streams from the upcoming changes in healthcare legislation. And many
of you attended today's session on Healthcare advertising as we learned what we
need to do to capture our fair share.
Our goal
at the RAB is to provide the resources and information our members need today,
tomorrow and long-term. Our successful CRM tool, Account Manager, has fifty-one
hundred users, helping sales people and sales managers manage their businesses.
Available on mobile devices and fully integrated with RAB research databases.
Our
Professional Development programs are created to benefit every level within
your sales organization, from the entry level salesperson to the seasoned
professional in the digital age.
An average
of two-thousand sales professionals each year have used RAB's online training
and certification courses and we are pacing to have over three-thousand this
year alone. Some of these certification courses deliver a deep dive into best
practices of digital sales, as well as education and training to go from
transactional seller to client-centric leader.
Earlier
this year, we launched a new member benefit - Finding Consumer Trends Report.
Via online surveys to radio station data bases, the F.C.T. Report taps into
consumer insights focused on specific ad categories to help you sell - both
locally and nationally. Our first two were focused on Automotive and Shopping,
and generated nearly fifty-thousand responses in total from radio station
websites. On Friday, you will have the opportunity to hear first-hand the
successes some stations have already experienced using this research.
According
to NPD Group's Annual Music Study, broadcast AM and FM radio stations are the
still the top choice for both core and casual music fans. Specifically,
ninety-five percent of music buffs tune into broadcast radio as their top
choice for music content.
Radio's
positive momentum in delivering content, like news, music and information,
across additional platforms and devices will continue as NextRadio hits the
market. This hybrid radio takes broadcast radio's efficiency combined with
interactive capabilities to create a content rich listener experience with new
advertising opportunities. Since it's very recent launch, it has already been
downloaded over twenty-five thousand time and over three-thousand stations have
been tuned in coast-to-coast. We now have another exciting platform to take to
our advertisers. And it should be noted that, according to Miller Kaplan data,
the number one category spender in radio for the first half of this year is
Communications /Cellular and the number eight in rank of overall top radio
supporters for the second quarter was Sprint - who increased their support of
our medium by one hundred and fifty three percent!
HD Radio
receivers are continuing to be added by automakers to more and more models. Did
you know there are now over fourteen million HD receivers in the marketplace?
Every six seconds over thirty percent of all new cars are driving off one of
your client's car lots with an HD Radio! Thirty-three automakers have announced
their plans to incorporate HD Radio technology in over one-hundred and seventy
models by year-end with over eighty HD Radio receivers being included as
standard equipment.
The
Streaming Initiative Committee, which you will be hearing more about in the
coming weeks, is rolling up its sleeves and taking a deep dive look into all
aspects of streaming - definitions, delivery, metrics, etc. And this will be
important to radio's future especially as eMarketer projects that music
listening via streams or downloads on smartphones will be used by thirty-three
percent of the population or nearly one hundred and eight million people in
2017.
As an
industry we must speak with one voice to deliver one important message:
commercial broadcast radio is nearly eleven-thousand strong. And the diversity
in radio's programming is unquestionable. This medium allows marketers to reach
their target audiences according to their lifestyles, interests, age groups and
languages at any point in their day and most important closest to the moment
they are about to make a purchase.
The RAB
works with advertisers, broadcasters and industry associations and partners to
elevate radio's position as a growing and healthy medium. We endeavor to exceed
in our objective to enhance the perception of radio as a primary medium to all
advertisers and increase radio's advertising and marketing revenue and share.
We also
work closely with the creative community to develop best practices and to
celebrate those that excel in understanding, supporting and that use radio to
deliver audio messages that resonate with their potential customers - our
listeners.
At the
Radio Mercury Awards this past June, we celebrated and honored advertisers that
epitomize a level of excellence in radio creative and use. This year's Radio
Marketer of the Year Award was presented to Target. For the past several years,
RAB's Business Development team has worked closely with Haworth Marketing and
Media - Target's media agency - to understand radio's strengths and create ways
to effectively use radio across all of its platforms. Let's hear what Melissa
Schoenke, Target's Director of Media Strategy, had to say.
That is a
true success story for radio. And there are more like these out there so let's
keep the momentum going and promote them.
Education
is critical to our future and there is a wealth of information available to you
during this year's Radio Show in every session you attend - to share with your
colleagues, managers, stations and advertising partners. I encourage you to
take in as many of the sessions, special events and networking opportunities
programmed with you in mind by our steering committee - led by, as you know,
Univision Radio's Jose Vallé. We did our best to follow your lead.
So you can
take full advantage of the conference, be sure to download the Radio Show app.
Simply call star star app. That's star star two seven seven from your mobile
device. Also, don't forget that some of today's sessions are being streamed and
are available for download later. Check out the app or your program and exhibit
guide to find out further details.
Enjoy the
conference and remember. . . . Radio, it's on!
About
the Radio Show
The 2013 Radio Show, produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and the
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), will be held September 18-20 in
Orlando. This year's show brings radio broadcasters and industry colleagues
together to share knowledge, discover the latest innovations, network with
industry leaders and explore creative business strategies for the digital age.
To learn more about the 2013 Radio Show, visit www.radioshowweb.com.
About
NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association
for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in
legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and
innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen
their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.
About RAB
The Radio Advertising Bureau serves more than 6,000 member Radio stations in
the U.S. and over 1,000 member networks, representative firms, broadcast
vendors, and international organizations. RAB leads and participates in
educational, research, sales, and advocacy programs that promote and advance
Radio as a primary advertising medium. Learn more at www.rab.com.