Blowing Radio's Horn

David Lieberman's word this morning was "renaissance" and that's the only bone I have to pick with his good radio news article (click to read it).

Radio stations are receiving a surprisingly strong signal from audiences and the financial markets this year, even as they face intensifying competition from satellite and Web-based audio services including Sirius XM Satellite Radio XM and Pandora. An average of 241.6 million people 12 and older listened to conventional radio stations each week last year, an increase of 2.1 million over 2009 — and up 4.9% vs. 2005, according to an annual study that media and marketing research company Arbitron released Monday. "Radio is much stronger than the general perception of it has been," says Carol Hanley, Arbitron's executive VP of sales and marketing.

In spite of what you may have read or heard, radio's audience has been quite stable all along in spite of the many new media options that have been emerging for many years.

To have a "renaissance," you have to go away and come back and the only thing that went away was the perception of radio's power. It's nice to have that back and thanks to David for telling our story so well.


Thanks to Midwest Family/Springfield, MO market manager Rick McCoy for spreading this good news to A&O and you.