NEW YORK, June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Interep (IREP.PK) held its third annual Radio Symposium at Bear Stearns' headquarters in New York City. This year's event, entitled "Radio 101: Back to the Basics, Off to the Future," celebrated radio's 100 years of broadcasting achievement, while asking, "What's next?" for a medium in transition.
Ralph Guild, Chairman and CEO of Interep welcomed the crowd, adding, "As in years past, the emotional impact of radio still continues to touch millions of listeners each day. As we analyze various trends and data points during today's panels, I think it's important that we don't lose sight of the intrinsic power of our medium."
Victor Miller, Sr. Broadcast Research Analyst, Bear Stearns, served as moderator for the event, which was co-sponsored by Bear Stearns. Miller pointed out in his opening remarks that since 2000, each year has held either a business, political, economic or natural catastrophic event that has caused anomalies in the radio advertising marketplace. He suggested that 2006 -- barring any unforeseen circumstances -- may be the first "normal" year for radio advertising in some time. He also suggested that there may be a case for a stronger 2nd Half of 2006 based on several factors: political spending; easier comps based on 2nd Half 2005 numbers; passing the one-year mark on Home Depot's move to network radio (May '05); passing the one-year impact of Hurricane Katrina (August '05).
The day-long symposium featured speakers and panel discussions, and included representatives from the broadcasting, advertising agency, research and financial sectors. In a featured one-to-one interview, David Verklin, CEO, Carat Americas, told the audience that radio could benefit from "vulnerability in network television spending." He added, "TV is vulnerable. New ideas are in the air. There are new delivery systems ... this is an incredible time of opportunity (for radio) if we can just keep our wits about us."
During a lunchtime one-to-one interview with Joel Hollander, Chairman and CEO, CBS Radio, Hollander told the crowd that it is incumbent upon the industry to adopt an electronic measurement system. He urged the industry not to let this issue become divisive. Agency execs on the panel entitled, "Radio's Future -- An Agency Perspective," expressed similar remarks regarding the value of implementing an electronic measurement system that could produce richer, more precise data.
In a separate presentation, Bob Struble, President and CEO of iBiquity, updated the audience on the roll out of digital radio. Among other points, he said that within the next 2-3 years, in addition to HD radio receivers in homes and cars, PDAs, eTablets and SmartPhones will be equipped to receive digital radio. He stated, "Not next quarter, probably next year, digital will lead to tons of new growth for the industry."
The final panel of the day, entitled "Radio's New Revenue Streams," focused on the opportunities that new technologies offer radio broadcasters. The Internet was deemed to offer exceptional integration opportunities for radio. Mark Ramsey, President of Hear2.0 and author of the book Fresh Air: Marketing Gurus on Radio, said, "The most important thing that I can say to radio broadcasters today is this: adopt a web strategy," adding, "And by the way, streaming alone is not a web strategy."
Active International, Arbitron and Media Monitors were also sponsors of the event.
To view a detailed agenda of the day's panels, please visit http://www.radiosymposium.com/. A podcast of the day's symposium will be available for sale next week on the website. Interep's Radio Symposium is produced by Eleven Seven Partners.
About Interep:
Interep (IREP.PK) is the nation's largest independent advertising sales and marketing company specializing in radio, the Internet, television and complementary media, with offices in 17 cities. Interep is the parent company to the following radio representation firms: ABC Radio Sales, D&R Radio, CBS Radio Sales, Cumulus Major Market Sales, McGavren Guild Radio and SBS/Interep. Interep is also parent to Azteca America Spot Television Sales and Interep Interactive, including Winstar Interactive. Interep divisions benefiting our clients and customers include our "unwired" Network Division; Interep Innovations, our business development division, including the Interep Marketing Group (IMG) and Promotion Marketing; and Morrison and Abraham, a sales consulting firm. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.interep.com/.
Contact: Victor Lirio, (p) 212-309-9031,
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