Well you wouldn’t expect him to stand up at the convention and give radio’s future a thumbs-down. But it was an optimistic David Rehr who gave broadcasters a glimpse into a positive future for radio during his “state of the industry” address at this week’s Opening General Session of the show.
Though business and the general press have delivered eulogies for radio, the NAB head said the association’s recent branding study shows that the medium remains relevant.
“The first thing we learned: nearly everyone said they rely heavily on radio for the information and entertainment they want or need every day.
“Our model is not broken,” he continued, pointing to Arbitron data, which shows radio’s audience has actually grown over the past year by 3 million listeners to 235 million.
At last fall’s Radio Show, NAB launched Radio 2020 to help guide the industry as it approaches the centennial mark for commercial U.S. radio.
