BoSacks Speaks Out: Do I feel lucky? Well do you, punk?

BoSacks Speaks Out: Do I feel lucky? Well do you, punk?

As I reported to you last week, Samir Husni and I held a terrific debate at the Florida Magazine Association's annual conference. I received many flattering notes and reports about our "heated" conversation. For those who weren't there I intend to attempt to broadcast a brief recap of the event in the very near future. But for today's note, let me just interject the following:

We are all employed and in the media/publishing business to make money. My question to you is this. Who is going to be the predominant media revenue provider and employer in the near future? Will it be radio, newsprint, magazines, TV or a digital platform?

For the record, I have never said that magazines are going to disappear. No, I think the printed magazine will be around for a long time to come, but it will not be the predominant reading medium for the majority of the masses. The internet gained mass appeal and attraction about 1996. The internet is now about eleven years old. My question to you is, how long do you expect to be working for living? What do you think you will be doing ten years from now? Do you think your responsibilities and job requirements will remain similar to what they are today?

The more I ponder this, the more I think that the only vocation that will still be doing in ten years, what they do today are the writers, editors and assorted proof readers of our industry. If you aren't involved in the creation of putting words in the right order, and in a pleasant format that others will want to read, then whatever you are doing today will be different a decade hence.


What do you think? Do you disagree?

BoSacks
-30-

This here's a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and it can blow your head clean off. Now, you must ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well do you, punk? -

- Clint Eastwood"



Web Ad Spending To Eclipse Radio In '07
Louis Hau
http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/29/advertising-radio-internet-cx_lh_0829radio.html

U.S. Internet advertising spending is poised to overtake radio advertising for the first time, providing a reminder that broadcasters need to be more aggressive in their embrace of online opportunities.

U.S. radio ad spending is expected to inch up 1.5% in 2007, to $20.4 billion, short of online ad expenditures of $21.7 billion, which will be up 22% from last year, eMarketer senior analyst Ben Macklin said in a report.

Over the next several years, radio station Web sites and online audio advertising "will be the principal drivers for radio advertising growth,'' Macklin said.

But he doesn't think that growth will add up to much. He expects the sluggish radio advertising market to continue experiencing slow growth, climbing to an estimated $22.6 billion in 2011, when online ad spending is expected to surge to $44 billion.

Terrestrial radio companies like Clear Channel Communications, CBS and Cox Radio still retain massive audiences, but consumers are spending less time listening to radio than they do surfing the Web or watching TV.

In addition, only 17% of U.S. consumers consider radio the "most" essential medium, down from 26% five years ago, according to a study released earlier this year by Arbitron and Edison Media Research.

For many advertisers, the choice between radio and non-radio online ads won't be an either-or proposition, Macklin said, pointing to studies showing that consumers often listen to the radio while consuming other media and that a mix of terrestrial radio and online ads can be far more effective than online ads alone.

"There are many synergies between radio and the Internet and, for the most part, they complement rather than compete with each other,'' he said. "Advertisers should not abandon radio in favor of the Web but combine the two media to take advantage of the unique attributes of each."

Those might sound like encouraging words for the radio industry. But as Macklin's estimates show, these new opportunities don't appear likely to kick-start the radio industry out of its doldrums.