From the NAB

There seems to be some good information and discussions coming out of this week’s NAB Radio Show in Washington, DC … all well covered by our friends at All Access, Inside Radio, Radio-Info.com, and others.  But, here are a few highlights that I’ve clipped so far:

If we create content that matters, we will always have an audience.

“If we create content that matters, we will always have an audience.”  Mark Ramsey of Mercury Research and Hear 2.0 summarized what radio should take away from this New York Times story about How Industries Survive Change – If They Do.

Read it and remember Mark’s advice.

What do women want?

In a unique collaboration between two of the nation’s leading media companies, Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) today announced key findings of a nationwide survey conducted among more than 3,000 women that covered a wide range of important topics to women, including marriage and family, health and fitness, safety, and financial matters.

Click on read more for the study findings.

If it’s too loud, you’re too wired!

There has been one under-reported, yet very important, finding in the “Internet & Multimedia 2008 Study” conducted by Arbitron and Edison Media Research — the number of workers listening to broadcast radio via streaming instead of traditional receivers is dramatically on the rise!

In fact, the percentage of terrestrial radio listeners who tuned-in via the Internet rather than a radio grew from 12% to 20% in less than one year.

Listeners vs. Users

Trade publication Inside Radio quotes Bonneville‘s Director of New Media, James Webb, saying radio needs to stop thinking of its cume as “listeners” and consider them “users.” He says, “Listeners are engaged only when the radio is on. Users connect with you in other ways.” This has tremendous implications for our industry, and extends our footprint beyond terrestrial radio to the world of multimedia applications (and revenue).**

Coincidentally, the Association for Downloadable Media today released their Podcast Consumer Revealed 2008 study, derived from the 2008 Internet & Multimedia Study conducted by Arbitron and Edison Media Research.

The audience for downloadable is not only growing, but also represents a very attractive target for advertising.

Top 5 Media Trends of 2008

Courtesy of McVay Media

This year will be one of pivotal change for the media industry. As the lives of consumers accelerate, marketers and programmers are being forced to find new ways of reaching consumers and researching/collecting information about their desires. Here are five trends that will emerge throughout 2008: