Have A Fine Broadcast Day!

CBS Radio really got into the Internet game later than most.  But since then, they have come on like gangbusters.  First the deal with AOL then the purchase of Last.fm.  Now, CBS stations will stream, in the United States only, over Last.fm.  CBS is touting a new player for both Last.fm and AOL streaming.

This is a great move that I’m happy to see.  As an industry, radio must embrace the Internet and take the lead instead of bringing up the rear.  We must establish our brands across as many platforms as possible.  Television is expanding into out area hurting listening in morning drive.  The Internet is looking to niche us to death with stations that appeal to 10 people.  A 100 “10s” make a thousand folks.

But streaming is only part of the equation.  The websites themselves need to be moved from promotions and marketing to programming.  I argued this point in the 1990s when radio was being cajoled into getting on the web.

But, in an effort to get radio to embrace the new frontier and prop-up their struggling enterprises, website developers and providers starting pushing the Internet as a dumping ground for sales and promotions.  Put all those pesky :10 liners and value added on your website they said.  And we did.

So, now we have all the same clutter on the website as we had on the air.  PLUS, more times than not the clutter has returned to the air.  Listening to some stations sounds like a minor league baseball game.  “My breathing is brought to you by….” kind of chatter.

As the Internet continues to grow and billing and Internet radio gets more sophisticated we are cluttering our websites the way we did AM radio in the 70s that gave FM an opportunity to flourish.

Its time to put the websites in the hands of Program Directors.  Its time for Program Directors to accept and understand the opportunity and responsibility.

CBS Radio streaming on Last.fm is a great step forward.  But they need to do something with their websites.  If you don’t believe me, look at the WCBS-FM website.  Click here.