I’m not a fan of any spot that bashes Satellite Radio – especially coming from an industry vastly larger. But I am a fan of any spot that promotes the virtues of Radio and does so well (unlike the "You heard it first on Radio" campaign which did NOT do it well).
Here’s an interesting grassroots approach reported in Radio Business Report:
Tired of local radio getting the snot kicked out of it? Tired of reading how bad you are locally? Saga CEO Ed Christian says he’s sick of seeing articles bashing the broadcasting business as being in dire straits.RBR observation: Well so are we and if you missed this good positive news with a local spot produced by a local broadcaster that is taking on Satellite Radio by themselves then take a read, listen to the spot, and then download it and put it on your station. They did the work for the entire radio business. Then see RBR’s challenge and let us who believe in our local strength show the guys on Wall Street how to get the job done right the first time.
How about some spots promoting free radio? You’ve heard the spots from NAB and a few big radio groups with recording artists saying that they like radio. But they really don’t say anything that tells consumers why they should prefer AM and FM over satellite radio or any other competitor.
At Genesis Communications WWBA-AM Tampa, Production Director "Tool" (Matthew Ternes) took up a challenge from his GM and created this
spot pitching free radio against all of the costs associated with satellite radio. The spot is also running on Genesis WAMT-AM Orlando and the company is making it available for other broadcasters to download from RBR. The voice artist, by the way, is John Young in Atlanta. Genesis refuses to air any spots for XM or Sirius and has its stations cover any satellite radio spots scheduled in syndicated programs that air on its stations.
RBR’s challenge: What have you got? There are lots of other creative people out there at radio stations. Create your own spot to promote terrestrial radio and sending us an email radionews@rbr.com letting us know about it. Then we’ll upload your mp3 file and share it with the rest of radio