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Panel (left to right): Stephanie Ruhle, NBC News, moderator. Mary Berner, president and CEO, Cumulus Media; David Field, president and CEO, Entercom; Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO, iHeartMedia. Photo: Paul McLane. Below are select clips from the discussion. Photo: Paul McLane.
Mary Berner
Podcast is a very, very compelling business opportunity for us. A way to expand our universe and deepens our relationships.
Time spent listening to audio is expected to grow as much as time spent gaming in coming years
Radio remains resilient and compelling. We’re positioned to thrive in the greater growing audio marketplace
Companies up here are well on their way to becoming audio-first companies.
We need to really lean into the shift from radio to audio.
David Field
The number one use case of smart speakers is broadcast radio. It’s a great testament to what we do.
Bob Pittman
(To ad agencies) Please get off of your perceptions of the past. Talk about a truly mass medium, which is radio.
Podcast is our birthright. Like radio it is companionship.
The music collection is the way people escape the world. Radio is the mirror image of that, when you want to be part of the world.
The music collection is a sort of utility; in radio we’re human beings.
About 85% of listening is to broadcast radio. The most important [aspect] is “keep me company.”
One of radio’s big advantages is that we win the device war. But now the smart speaker allows us to reclaim some of our turf in the home too.
With the consumer we in radio are doing great. But we’ve gotta monetize it better. Historically we don’t have great relationships at the client level.
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