[NJARC] CBS Selling Off Radio

[Retevis]

Thank you, Alex, for expanding the discussion on this topic. 

I agree with Alex's assessment for the most part but would like to point out the one glaring weakness in the initial argument. It is the concept of the "traditional source of revenue." In my mind this is always the cause of death in most businesses. 

When a business begins to decline, real business leaders find a way to slowly abandon traditional sources of revenue and find new ways to repurpose their assets. When you have an asset such as traditional radio which still reaches a large population, you would think that someone could come up with a way to utilize this asset in a way to make it a viable business. 

I agree some serious brainstorming is required. I just find it interesting that most business leaders find cutting and not creative thinking is the best solution. 

I don't want to underestimate the challenge in coming up with viable alternatives. I just wish business people would sometimes take the chance to try a radically new solution rather than let traditional assumptions drive them into the ground. 

I appreciate and applaud Alex's suggestion to contact them if you have a way to save the business. 
Any ideas?

Best wishes. 
Bob

Sent from Bob's iPhone

> On Mar 18, 2016, at 10:57 AM, Alex Magoun <a.b.magoun at ieee.org> wrote:
> 
> Just remember
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> _________________________________________________________
> It's really hard to "grow" or build, or rebuild a profitable business when the traditional revenue source, advertising, keeps shrinking. Les Moonves is a broadcasting veteran going back to the 1970s and presumably he's looking at data like that in Slide 5 here (http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/MAGNA_Letang_IAB_Webinar_042215.pdf) and Slide 8 here (http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/PWC_IAB_2014_Full_Year_Digital_Ad_Revenue_IAB2.pdf).
> 
> Radio suffers from the same problem as print, music, and film media. The vast majority of Americans and people worldwide get their information and entertainment in the most convenient way possible: on demand, any time, any where, digitally, in the convenience (and small screen) in their hands. Moonves and his colleagues in traditional media have been wrestling with this for at least 15 years so if you have a brainstorm they've overlooked, be sure to let Broadcasting & Cable (note title) know:)
> 
> David Sarnoff forecast this transition in 1964 for 2000, and he also observed in the early 1930s, with regard to movies and television, that every medium will continue to play a profitable part as long as it has something unique to offer.  CBS Radio will certainly continue to appear just as NBC Radio has in the last 30 years (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_Red_Network#After_the_Golden_Age_of_Radio), just not run by National Amusements/CBS/Paramount.
> 
> 
> Alex
> ~~~
> Alexander B. Magoun, Ph.D., Outreach Historian
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