Radio Academy event focuses on ‘Commerce in Commercial Radio’

Move BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 to digital overnight, was the plea from Linda Smith, at last night’s Radio Academy ‘Commerce in Commercial Radio’ event.

Smith, the RAB’s newly appointed executive chairman, conceded this was a pipe dream but that forcing audiences to switch to digital was the way to help commercial radio tackle the digital issue.

Smith said that the Digital Radio Act has brought clarity in terms of a plan for 2015 but there are several areas that still need to be addressed, with affordable in-car listening being one of them.

The event was chaired by Stan Park and Smith was joined on the panel by Starcom’s Dominic Woolfe and GMG’s Richard Jacobs.

Woolfe believes that digital stations need to offer listeners more choice and more innovative content, even going as far as to suggest the likes of Global and Bauer should work together on content. However, Smith thinks this is unlikely given they are highly competitive businesses, chasing the same share of listening.

The return path technology offered by digital is key, according to Jacobs, and the industry needs to work out how to manage this properly and put a commercial value on it. He suggested this could lead to the holy grail of direct response radio.

A question from the floor about internet based radio led a discussion about whether it is a viable alternative to DAB. Concerns over limited wi-fi channels and the expectation that mobile phone operators will limit streaming in the future, suggest this is not a realistic option as a replacement.

Smith believes the medium’s slight increase in share in the second half of 2009 indicates radio is now being reappraised as a medium and this is partly due to the growth in platforms and radio apps.

The RAB’s Mark Barber says they are expecting revenues for the first quarter of 2010 to show a growth of 7-8% but that they predict the second quarter will be tough for the industry.

When asked where they expect radio to be in 2013, Woolfe and Jacobs suggest it will remain a 6% medium. Smith was predictably slightly more positive, with a forecast of 7%.