OT: Owner of most major market radio stations files for bankruptcy

[Kevin M.]

Turns out listeners might want to hear more than the same six songs plays over and over. Go figure. 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/audacy-kroq-wfan-files-bankruptcy-1235781045/amp/

Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Adam Bowie]

US radio is still insanely profitable, turning over around $13bn in revenues in 2023. For context, US podcast revenues were forecast to be about $2bn. 

The main problem in recent years has been insane debt levels caused by all the consolidation that just couldn't be serviced. Everyone biting off way more than they could chew. The underlying business of radio is still perfectly viable commercially.

So although broadcast radio may be in long-term decline, like broadcast television, and owners might indeed be playing the same six songs over and over, but they still have audiences... That's a creative issue.

Also, a bit like streaming TV services mostly just lose money, Spotify only just about washes its face. We seem to have moved into an era where the new services replacing the old, are not remotely as profitable as the outgoing business models...

Adam

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[PGage]

“Washes its face”? Is that a Britishism I have not run into yet on Britbox or Acorn?

I can’t recall the last time I listened to the radio - probably if there was a breaking news story and I was in car for a long trip. I used to be able to say I listened to the radio a lot for SF Giants games (baseball is a sport that is as good or better on radio than television), but now I do access all my baseball on demand thru streaming TV. I bought a new car this year which came with a free six month subscription to Sirius (just expiring this week) and I never used it once.

I am Spotify or Audiobooks when driving or walking. I listen to a lot of music while working (I have a lot of writing to do), all Spotify.

But I guess someone is listening to the radio…

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[Adam Bowie]

On Sun, Jan 7, 2024 at 7:50 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:

“Washes its face”? Is that a Britishism I have not run into yet on Britbox or Acorn?

I hadn't thought of it as colloquial British, but checking references, it seems they're mostly UK. Basically it means that it covers its costs but not much more - i.e it breaks even. I've no idea what the phrases etymology might be. You tend to hear it in the commercial world.

The best I could find was this from 1953 in a Scottish dictionary: "There'll be nae profits. The book'll be lucky if it washes its face."

 

I can’t recall the last time I listened to the radio - probably if there was a breaking news story and I was in car for a long trip. I used to be able to say I listened to the radio a lot for SF Giants games (baseball is a sport that is as good or better on radio than television), but now I do access all my baseball on demand thru streaming TV. I bought a new car this year which came with a free six month subscription to Sirius (just expiring this week) and I never used it once.

I am Spotify or Audiobooks when driving or walking. I listen to a lot of music while working (I have a lot of writing to do), all Spotify.

But I guess someone is listening to the radio…

Beware the sample size of one :-)

According to Edison Research, who produce a regular "Share of Ear" survey on all forms of audio consumption in the US, 36% of time spent listening to any audio, is to AM/FM radio. Streaming music accounts for 18%, using YouTube for music is 14% and podcasts account for 10%. Audiobooks are just 3%.

https://www.edisonresearch.com/solutions/share-of-ear/

It's kind of like Yellowstone having way more viewers than Succession. But I only watch(ed) the latter, and it got vastly more coverage in the things I read than the former.

I also like to check out the UK TV ratings body, BARB, who do measure several of the big streamers in the UK alongside all the broadcasters in their weekly Top 50. It obviously varies by week, but hardly any Netflix, Amazon or Disney shows appear on the list. In the most recent data, running up to Christmas Eve, just a single Netflix film (the Chicken Run sequel, which is essentially a British animated film) made it into the top 50 shows... at #50. That said, it was also the sole streaming show/film the previous week when it premiered at #17. But my point is that even the biggest Netflix/Amazon/Disney shows barely make an impact compared with those on linear broadcast TV.

https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/most-viewed-programmes/

I think it's enlightening that although Netflix recently offered up their 18,000 row data dump of viewership, it did not break out the data by country. That would really show just how few people are watching most of their shows.

Adam

[Kevin M.]

The revenue number is a good starting point, but I suspect the profit margin has never been more slim, and it will only worsen as radio listeners… well… die. British radio is (at least from an outsider’s perspective) more diverse than American radio, with dramas and comedies as well as news, sports, talk, and music. There are simply no new US radio listeners taking the place of the older ones. For the life of me, I cannot fathom why anyone would advertise on it. 

There are many fingers to point the blame for the death of American radio, but chief among them has to be the mega companies merging all the stations into effectively (or noneffectively) one bland playlist on an infinite loop. Through consolidation, radio lost its identity and it lost the connection it made with its listeners, who flocked to podcasts for acoustic intimacy and gravitated towards Spotify because it at least plays different music occasionally.  

The only stations I’m aware of consistently turning a profit are the right wing talk stations, because I guess MyPillow has to advertise somewhere. 

PS- By contrast, at least in Los Angeles, Spanish-language radio continues to flourish, as it has for decades. They manage to connect with the community in ways no English-language station has been able to do since KMET 94.7 signed off in the 1980s. 

Kevin M. (RPCV)

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