It Ain't The Economy, Stupid!

And the psychologist then says: “So tell me what do you see in this ink blot?”

Here’s what the press sees…

“The headwinds of a slowing economy have hit a once-vibrant Atlanta radio market, which saw revenues slip 3% in 2007 over 2006.”

The press sees a lot of things through their red toned eyeglasses.

Here is what I see…

The mass media is getting shoved off the stage in favor of alternative, more personal choice driven avenues.

Rodney Ho is the author of the article. Rodney’s employer, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) is also seeing revenues slip.

One of the Top 10 Trends in the 2008 BrandVenture Trendcast is titled “The Funeral Mass of the Mass Media.” The AJC is an example of the trend at work! Business Week reported a 9.1% drop in the circulation of the AJC in 2007 over 2006…one of the highest drops among US newspapers.

Much of the Mass Media and their Ad Agency co-dependents refuse to accept that fact that change is eminent. Some cling to their past; others channel blame elsewhere.

Rodney makes an attempt to justify his observation with the statement: “There is a general correlation between revenues and ratings.”

How did he arrive at this conclusion?

“R&B/Hip Hop V-103, the area’s top rated station pulled in the most revenue, $42.3 million according to BIA estimates…and News/Talk WSB-AM wasn’t far behind at $40 million.”

Interesting.

V-103 delivers strongest among younger, urban African-Americans…a niche within a niche in a city that has a significant younger, urban African-American population.

V-103 is doing to radio what Adult Swim is doing to cable television.

And talk radio like WSB-AM delivers an alternative news perspective…albeit, sometimes from a very niche perspective (Michael Savage and The Allen Hunt Show).

“Top 40 station Star 94 was the third highest grossing station at $24.4 million, but that was down from $28.7 million in 2005.”

A Top 40 station today is the equivalent to Life magazine in print.

Our company works rather extensively with the academic community. Maybe we can find a professor that will do a paper post-election based on the hypothesis that many of the economic factors of 2007-2008 are rooted in consumer perceptions largely influenced by the press.

Bet there aren’t any takers from the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications (that is still their real name!) at my alma mater the University of Georgia!

The best part of the article that offers a glimpse of what is really taking place is part of Rodney’s last paragraph: “Most general managers, averse to discussing station financials didn’t return calls or declined to comment.”

Maybe its because they see what’s really happening and wondering if its time to jump ship.