Proof that Pandora is Killing Clear Channel

From AdWeek:

As of July 14, the company had registered 180,000 new users, and more than 200,000 new stations had been created on the iPhone. Pandora executives claim that the company has attracted a new iPhone listener every two seconds since the launch, with most users listening for close to an hour per day.

When is the last time Clear Channel had any excitement like that?

What kind of data is Pandora collecting to make their stations better?
E-Mail
Name
Type of Artists
If songs are liked or disliked
Popular artists and playlists
I'm sure many more

What kind of data is Clear Channel collecting to make their stations better?
Whatever their corporate headquarters and advertisers give them.

Who is going to win long term?
Yes, it is that obvious.

I am picking up my iPhone today at 5, as soon as I get off work and the 1st app being installed will be the last time I make an attempt to listen to a Clear Channel station. Sorry to be so blunt, but they just don't matter anymore.

(BTW - My co-worker, who happens to be 50 said the same thing. She is going to get an iPhone for the sole purpose of getting radio how she wants it and being able to listen to the music she wants, when she wants!)

-Greg Rollett

Can Clear Channel Be Cool?

photo by kevincrumbs

Radio is dying. There is more and more syndication of shows and the localization is going right out the window. Here in Orlando we have CBS Radio and Clear Channel and they both pretty much suck if you want to hear ground breaking music.

Honestly the satellite radios are not any better. The music might be hot and fresh and there are more genres and channels, but still, it's not what we want in an iPod generation.

In order for these Clear Channel, Cox or CBS's to matter again, they need to give the users what they want, when they want it. I am not talking about calling in a request. I mean on-demand.

Here's the big ideas:
The iPhone can pretty much make both traditional radio and XM Radio obsolete. How? Easy, Pandora and 3G. Last.FM and 3G. When iMeem launches their iPhone App, forget about it. Clear Channel needs to be right up their backside developing an application that users can take where they want and listen to the music, news, talk that they want at anytime and any place. All your major shows are syndicated anyway, store em online, throw in a few advertisements and let the user go get em.

Create synergy between the community, your station and the online world. When having your big concerts, get local. EDBD does this with a Battle of the Bands but it does so on a 2nd rate stage in front of the hot dog stands. Get the community involved. Once you have them involved make them be a part of your brand and allow them to share that involvement with their friends, co-workers, etc. Then the idea is to get your online strategy to sync up with the community aspect. In today's world you cannot have one without the other.

Let your advertising sync between everything that you do. It will make the advertiser happy and the message just may get across to the viewer/listener. Create a total advertising package.

I dunno, these were just some thoughts I had today. Tomorrow I hopefully pick up my iPhone and one of the 1st Apps I'm grabbing is Pandora.

What do you think? Can radio even compete with these new cutting edge companies? Can Clear Channel become cool again and break out of their corporate b/s? The more I think about it, the answer is no. They move too slow.

Let the local markets do it themselves. Interesting. Can radio be local again? That's another topic in itself.

Come on, join in the radio conversation. I'd love to hear from ya!

-Greg Rollett