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Connoisseur’s Warshaw Says Pandora Has ‘No Track Record’

Radio group executives tell stations to “stop whining and get determined”

“F*** Pandora. Seriously. They have no track record of getting local advertisers … or of training and retaining great local salespeople.”

That’s what Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw would say to a local radio salesperson being wooed by the Internet audio service. News came this week that Pandora has hired another 50 or so salespeople for its local radio sales offices. RW has reported the company is hiring many of its salespeople from broadcast radio.

Speaking at the Nielsen Audio Client Conference and Jacobs Media Summit in Baltimore on Thursday, Warshaw was part of a panel composed of radio group executives.

When asked about the state of radio, South Central Communications President Craig Jacobus said he’s concerned about where new talent’s coming from, saying there’s a “void of new people” coming into the business.

Journal Broadcast Group EVP TV & Radio Ops Steve Wexler said the markets are not particularly healthy at the moment so managers need to make choices. “We can do anything we want, we just can’t do everything we want. We’re going to be more disciplined.”

And finally, NRG Media CEO Mary Quass said of the flat markets and the repetitive statements by competitors that “broadcast radio is dead” means “We’ve got to stop whining and get determined. We’ve got loyal listeners and advertisers. It’s not rocket science.”

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