A new Audacy (or odyssey) for Entercom

After more than 50 years, Entercom has today rebranded as Audacy.

🗣️🗣️🗣️ https://t.co/o5F2snf2Ql is now Audacy❣️❣️❣️

🎵 Music that moves
🗞️ News that hits home
⚾ Sports for every fan
🎧 Podcasts for your passions#ItsAllHere - https://t.co/O2IhLkXRuD pic.twitter.com/rznocBK9TZ

— Audacy (@Audacy) March 30, 2021

The second largest US radio group, owner of more than 230 stations across 48 markets, has changed both its corporate name and that of its aggregator RADIO.COM (now audacy.com). CEO David Field said:

The name Entercom no longer fit. We’ve outgrown it.

We have transformed into a fundamentally different and dramatically enhanced organization and so it is time to embrace a new name and brand identity which better reflects who we have become and our vision for the future, 'Audacy' captures our dynamic creativity, outstanding content and innovative spirit as we aspire to build the country’s best audio content and entertainment platform.

To put it simply, like iHeartMedia, they’re more than just traditional broadcast radio and want their user-facing name to reflect its podcast offerings.

Radio companies recognizing the fact their competition is more than just other stations (it’s also global players such as Spotify and Apple who are also starting to do more exclusive deals) is no bad thing - but has this rebrand been properly thought through?

Is there anything wrong with calling a platform that includes on-demand audio "radio"? It might not be beamed from a transmitter but it’s a term everybody understands - oh, and they still have radio stations too!

Perhaps ".com" is a strange name for a mobile app - and if the app was just called “Radio”, it’s unlikely to be at the top of search results.

Another thing - I’m not sure the name "Audacy" is too... well, radio-friendly. Is it "odyssey" (with a Scottish accent)? Or someone mispronouncing "Audacity"?

I'm not sure the the average listener will draw the link with “audio”, but even if they did that doesn’t help with the spelling.

GWR’s koko.com springs to mind here (for the avoidance of doubt, "that’s kay, oh, kay oh, dot com").

Tensions break out after Global owner seeks to buy up to 49.99% of iHeart

Following the Bahamas-based investment arm of Global Media & Entertainment seeking FCC approval to be able to acquire as much as 49.99% of iHeartMedia, the US firm has filed a counter-petition seeking to limit their possible stake to 9.99%, citing the short-term Shareholders Rights Plan that restricts one investor to 10% of the business unless approved by the board (until 5th May 2021).

A "frustrated" and "surprised" Global responded to say that winning permission under foreign ownership rules is a separate matter and able to be considered by the regulator.

Does this dispute leave an open goal for Liberty Media, the Colorado-based conglomerate behind SiriusXM and Formula 1, which recently received the green light from the Department of Justice to increase its stake?

In my view, the US radio industry could really do with some progressive UK influence right now. It needs to recognise that doing radio "the way we've always done it" is not sustainable.

Good radio is good radio - that's all

Let’s be clear: good radio is good radio.

It doesn’t matter if it was made today, yesterday, a week ago or a year ago - as long as it’s relevant to me on the day it comes through my speakers, I’m satisfied. This is how the overwhelming majority of listeners feel.

Live can be, and often is, very special when utilized - there’s nothing like the ability to be in-the-moment, reacting to things in real time such as listener engagement or a good old-fashioned phone-in or comp.

But when this doesn’t happen, does it *really* need to be live?

Why hire someone to sit twiddling their thumbs waiting for the end of “another 5 in a row” when they could be more flexible, preparing and presenting quality content in their own time?

Flexibility also means you’re more likely to attract the best talent.

Liveness and reactiveness are often moulded into a single concept. The former isn’t necessary to achieve the latter which is a key radio strength that mustn’t be lost if our great medium is to remain relevant.

Dare I suggest an up-to-the-minute VT link allows for better preparation and quality control. Not to mention the ability to record and drop it in from virtually anywhere at any time.

Just as good radio is good radio, lazy radio is lazy radio (and more lazy radio happens to be live).

The need to be live might just be for the presenter’s own enjoyment when the listening experience is what really matters.

So before rushing to attack "lazy" voice-tracking, remember, it’s not the tech that is responsible for what you hear!

No more Nightly News on Heart

Almost seven years after the former Real Radio stations were merged into the Heart network, Ofcom have approved format change requests to drop the additional speech requirements on these licenses (and Cornwall).

Dynata surveyed 1,500 Heart listeners, two thirds of which were made up of people within each 'full service' license TSA, to explore their thoughts on the overall balance of music and speech.

26% believed there was too much in the way of speech and presenter content, against 2% who said there wasn’t enough. 27% felt there was not enough music, against 7% who felt there was too much. Ads will have been a contributing factor here too.

74% of 'full service' listeners were unaware of the extended Nightly News bulletin weekdays at 6:45pm. For a music-intensive 'background listening' brand, this is hardly surprising.

When asked to estimate the current balance of music and speech on Heart they said 62%-38%, but given the choice the ideal balance would be 70%-30%.

From three different daytime hours on three different days, I calculated the average balance of music and speech (including ads) was 68%-32%. Breaking this down further out of interest, I discovered the balance of music, presenter links and ads was 73%-11%-16%.

Regional breakdowns and further data (including listening by daypart and occasions when news bulletins are important) can be found in each format change request here.

Ireland: RTE snubs DAB

Big news from Ireland this morning - public service broadcaster RTE is withdrawing from DAB.

Its digital-only offerings (RTE Gold, RTE 2XM, RTE Radio 1 Extra, RTE Pulse, and RTEjr Radio) will still be available online and via Saorview/Sky.

The decision was motivated by low reach (the recent JNLR/Ipsos MRBI report found DAB share is just 0.5%), the fact they’re the only broadcaster using the platform and the need for cost avoidance measures.

It’s worth noting that all new cars sold in Ireland are required to be fitted with DAB as standard following an EU directive.

New entrants to the market Bauer, renowned for its digital focus elsewhere in Europe, could view this as a big opportunity to really push it and own the space.

Do your listeners even know what you’re called?

 This tweet from Leah Boleto made me laugh today - so many questions...

My local Indian restaurant likes to brag about all the different news outlets they’ve been on. My favourite has to be ‘BBC FIVE ALIVE’. 😜🤣 @bbc5live pic.twitter.com/I0SvBa9xxm

— Leah Boleto (@LeahBoleto) March 1, 2021

It makes you question how recent some (or all) of these appearances were. The first incarnation of Thames Radio rebranded as Radio Jackie in 2003, but they could be referring to the digital station in London of the same name which launched in 2016 and only lasted for a year.

Meanwhile, 106 FM in North Hertfordshire hasn’t been known as Hertbeat FM (or "Herts Beat FM"!) for eleven years now - and needn’t I say anything about the News of the World!

It’s also a reminder that brands can take forever to sink in. Chances are that they were all recent, but the fact Heart sounds a lot like one of its former names in the area, to an ordinary listener, could cause confusion. I’d love to know which boxes this restaurant owner would tick in a RAJAR diary.

I’m almost certain that "BBC Country Radio" is BBC Three Counties Radio given this is clearly Hertfordshire, but don’t ask about "Inf Radio"... anyone?!