Radio Nearly Recovered From COVID-19 Slowdown, CEOs Say
Radio’s biggest companies say the medium has largely come back from the lows of the early COVID-19 slowdown, and its position may have improved, according to a Q&A panel with iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman, Entercom CEO David Field and Cumulus CEO Mary Berner that helped kick off the virtual Radio Show. “Broadcast radio has made a nearly complete recovery. We’re at nearly 90% of pre-pandemic levels” of listenership, said Berner. Brands in the pandemic have an increased need for local advertising, affordable ways to reach lots of customers, and ads that run on multiple platforms, said Pittman. “It’s a terrible situation to be in, but it does play to our strengths.”
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The CEOs conceded initial stages of the pandemic cut into listenership, saying streaming, podcasts and home listening began to compensate. “In the short run, we were hit by erosion of the customer base,” Field said. All three agreed their companies’ multiple platforms allowed them to weather that storm. “I don’t believe any permanent damage has been done,” Field said. Pittman said perceptions that radio listenership was hit hard were driven by “myths” and “media elite.” “Everybody didn’t stay home; rich people stayed home,” he said. Pittman said he saw in-car listenership drop by a third, not “the dramatic falloff in car travel” that was predicted.
The pandemic is an opportunity for radio because the rough economic environment makes advertisers more conscious of spending and more willing to try new things, Pittman said. Radio provides a comparable reach to TV at less cost, he said. “We’re big, we’re cheap and we work,” said Berner. Radio is “nimble,” Pittman said, and can create ad content more quickly than other media.
Large radio groups such as those on the panel offer local ads in numerous markets but are still a one-stop shop for advertisers, while TV groups and TV networks are more diffuse, Pittman said. With localities reopening at different paces, large brands need more localized ad campaigns, which increases radio’s attractiveness, he said.
Radio companies may also have learned things during this time that could improve business after the coronavirus, the CEOs said. Many have focused even harder on digital offerings, said Field. They may also reduce office space, Berner suggested. “None of us will need the real estate footprints we thought we needed.”
With the pandemic, the industry hasn’t lately focused on broadcast ownership rules, but they remain an issue, Field said. The rules are “archaic” and limit the industry, said Berner. Radio needs to get regulators to understand “where we are and where we’re going,” said Pittman. Possible relaxation of radio ownership rules was discussed in the initial NPRM on the 2018 FCC quadrennial review of media ownership. The recent announcement of the Supreme Court taking up the FCC’s Prometheus IV appeal makes it extremely unlikely the agency will address the QR in 2020 (see 2010020059).