Gehron Proclaims ''4th Golden Age of Radio'' at FRC

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, May 3, 2011 | 2:59pm CT

At the Future of Radio Conference, AccuRadio COO John Gehron said that listeners are going to pureplay Internet providers like Pandora, Slacker, Last FM and AccuRadio because of personalization control, variety, low spot load, ubiquity (multi-platform availability) and global availability. He also noted that total Internet radio listening now accounts for over a 6.6 share of audio listening overall. Pandora today has a 2.8 share of listening in the typical radio market.

He asked what it would cost to have a two share radio station in every market in the U.S. A lot more than Pandora's current valuation of about $1 billion. Pandora's growth rate was a phenomenal 107% in 2010 compared to much slower or no growth in listening to the simulcast streams of terrestrial radio stations over the same period.

"AM Radio faced a similar challenge in the 1970's with FM," he said. "Internet listening today is at levels similar to FM listening in 1971. If you are over 55 you can probably remember those fledging album rock stations on FM. Most AM operators passed them off as fringe stations college kids listened to. Ten years later the theme at every broadcast association meeting was, 'What do we do with these AM stations?'"

"Is history going to repeat itself?" asked Jim Hooker, convener of the Future of Radio conference. "Where will today's AM and FM stations be compared to Internet pureplays in 10 years? Does anyone want to think that far out? Or are operators so caught up with 'billing, booking, and collections' that they can't think past next quarter?"

He also pondered, "If Gehron is right about his 4th golden age," then he contends that broadcasters cannot wait for another five years, when Internet listening will be even more of a dominant force to really get into the game. And just streaming what's being broadcast is not the answer. Listeners simply won't put up with the current interruption loads of spot radio if they have another alternative.

According to Hooker, the "Golden Age of Radio" is the opportunity operators have to leverage their relationship with both listeners and advertisers in these challenging but exciting times and to make a play in the Internet space in creative new ways that meet the needs of both constituencies.