Every Radio Station Can Become a TV Station, Says CBS' Dan Mason

Dan Mason has taken over as president of the CBS Radio division at an exceptionally challenging time Putting on the best possible face and tackling the myriad issues facing radio with a positive outlook is the role and responsibility of a corporate executive But Mason also has the task of working for two task masters Les Moonves and Sumner Redstone who are not inclined to tolerate either poor performance or artificial hype Mason took over as president when Joel Hollander departed earlier this year and quickly moved to respond to the losses of both Howard Stern and Don Imus whose departures not only made headlines but created disruption across a radio industry that is struggling to respond to satellite radio Internet radio and downloads MP3 a music industry in chaos new radio HD technology and competition from multiple new sources Basic terrestrial radio might be the last of the truly quotfreequot media available requiring no costly equipment upgrades content subscriptions or ondemand fees but local ad revenues have been eroding and the industry has struggled to define its core mission and place in the informationentertainment hierarchy Dan Mason Mason39s most visible move has been the transition of the company39s flagship FM station New York39s WCBSFM away from the failed quotJackquot strategy to its historic roots in classic oldies quotIt39s amazing how easy it is to program 1 top 40 records The format allows us to package several music genres and make it sound really goodquot he says Along with the oldies format Mason and station management also brought back several legendary New York disc jockeys to recapture the original station sound in an updated format quotIt was not only the music but this was a personality driven local medium There was no doubt when the 39Jack39 format came on that people went to XM and Siriusquot Mason acknowledges quotCousin Brucie went there Listeners couldn39t get the oldies product But every day we get more and more feedback saying they39re coming back to usquot In an exclusive interview with Jack Myers Media Business Report Mason argued that WCBSTV could rewrite rule book on how important local radio is to the community quotRadio is the most powerful local medium there isquot he affirmed quotIt has the ability to call people to action with a swiftness no other medium can claim Announcers can reach out and touch people Too often the personality aspects of radio get lost WCBSFM is a station that blatantly and passionately was a part of New York City That39s what radio needs to do in every marketquot quotRadio has an ability to emotionally connect with listeners and personalities have a back and forth interactivity with listenersquot Mason commented He believes this ability is uniquely local pointing out only three national personalities have successfully established that level of audience connection Arthur Godfrey Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern quotIt39s not to say other shows aren39t successfulquot he added quotbut they don39t make emotional connections like those three shows Radio is still a local mediumquot Mason believes CBS has done an effective job locally in New York replacing Stern and Imus admitting quotother stations need similar fixes but there is no onesizefitsall solution Focusing on the premise of local content for local radio prevents you from making decisions that affect 20 stations at a timequot he explains A major issue impacting programming is CBS39 decision to move away from programming to 12 to 24 year olds because ad agencies have shifted buys away from the demo due to increased use by that demo of Mp3 iPod and Internet radio However the same technologies are positively impacting radio in reaching younger demographics with other formats quotA station like New York39s allnews WINS that has a 35 to 64 terrestrial audiencequot Mason points out quotnow sees strong numbers in younger demos as the station is cultivating a younger news audience online For years we tried to figure out how to make the product compatible for the audience but the issue was the platform not the content Now that they can receive it on other platforms they are finding it In the near future every radio station will have the ability to become a TV station We will see webcasts and webisodes There39s no reason we can39t have our own webcast shows with talent in the same way Imus was simulcast on MSNBC Radios will soon be developed with TV screens The terrestrial radio medium will evolve and occupy more share of the digital spacequot CBS39 670 The Score WSCRAM has partnered with Paltalk to enable listeners to participate in live interactive video streams of the station39s popular weekday sports talk shows Listeners can see the onair personalities live in the studio as well as other listeners who are streaming video of themselves In addition listeners interact with the hosts and each other through text audio and video www670thescorecom Mason claims quotCBS39 digital revenue has been doubling every six months but he admits it39s a message that is not yet resonating with the investment community Once we show by specific example how radio can be visualized through the internet a light will go off and investors will understandquot he believes Marci L Ryvicker of Wachovia Capital Markets comments quotWhile CBS continued to gain share in NY and Chicago it suffered yeartoyear and sequential declines in LA We are not concerned however given that Dan Mason is already making worthwhile changes For example CBS39 switch back to KROCK from FREEFM in the NY market has already resulted in significant gains We anticipate further format changes and associated rating gains as the year goes on and expect to see such results reflected in revenue growth in early3908quot CBS will launch its new TargetSpot service in top ten markets and selected stations in other markets later this year offering local advertisers the capability to develop and place their own streaming commercials on station websites In development for over a year TargetSpot is a partnership with Oddcast and is being spun out as an independent business headed by CEO Doug Perlson TargetSpot appears to be similar in context to SpotRunner which acts as a TV ad agency for local retailers CBS has been successful developing integrated multiplatform media campaigns including the wwwattblueroomcom campaign a General Motors39 ambassadors program that features local station talent about their experiences driving GM cars Each talent drives a different GM car for two weeks a month for nine months and then talks about it onair To contact Dan Mason email him at dmasoncbscom

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Every Radio Station Can Become a TV Station, Says CBS' Dan Mason

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