CBS Radio CEO Calls For Radio Revitalization

From FMQB:

CBS Radio President/CEO Dan Mason spoke to the 35th annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Tuesday, asking the radio industry to revitalize itself in 2008. "Radio is king – there is no media that can better deliver more targeted, personalized messages to audiences and advertisers," said Mason. "Today’s presentation was a call to arms to all our colleagues in the industry to better tell our story, and demonstrate the incredible opportunities for growth. Radio is going through one of the most transformative periods in the history of broadcasting, and it’s up to us to show the advertising and financial communities how we can seize these changes to our advantage."

Mason predicted that CBS Radio would turn a profit in 2008, calling himself "guardedly optimistic" about business growth next year. He said he was "confident" CBS Radio would be in the black in '08.

Mason added that radio needs to do a better job of selling itself and its ubiquity. "In New York, more people listen to radio than read all three newspapers combined, or visit Google, Yahoo or AOL on a monthly basis," said Mason. "We have information like this in every one of our markets, but there is the lingering perception that radio is still old media and not on a growth track."

Mason concluded that radio should also continue to embrace new media options, as well as invest in better programming content for its stations.

Link