Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Drake’s Take On Radio

As 2007 drew to a close, R&R Publisher Erica Farber concluded her Publisher’s Profile series for the year with an insightful interview with legendary programmer and consultant Bill Drake.

Here’s Drake’s take on…

The State of RADIO:

Competition is such that today people are excited about a 3 share. There are so many wasted signals. Our policy was, we didn’t go into a market without the intent of being No. 1, period, boom! No niche this or that. And we made it 90% of the time.

What We Can Learn From Yesterday’s Successes:

Whoever puts the best on the radio wins. Obviously today you’ve got iPods, satellite and all kinds of goodies. There are some good programmers, but some lousy-sounding stations—and some of them have incredible signals. There doesn’t seem to be that fever anymore. I know when we were doing it we were like a brotherhood. We went in to win and did whatever it took. We were totally, absolutely dedicated. It doesn’t come across on many radio stations now. A lot of people just don’t know what they’re doing. Of course, that’s always been true.

Advice for Broadcasters:

I’d sure like to see something a little more innovative and maybe a different concept. Or maybe somebody doing basics well. There’s a lot that can be done.

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