RAIN Summit opens in Dallas: Exclusive report

The NAB/RAB RadioShow begins in Dallas tomorrow morning and radioinfo’s Wayne Stamm is there, covering it for radioinfo.

The pre-conference RAIN Summit was held today.

  
It’s almost 20 years to the day since Kurt Hanson sent out the first RAIN newsletter, and in his opening remarks at today’s RAIN Summit in Dallas, he looked at the current state of the audio industry.
 
Some of his findings are:
 

The TSL for radio has steadily declined in the past 20 years in the USA, dropping from 3.0 hours per day to 1.5 hours per day.
 
On the balance, there are now more people listening to different forms of radio and audio than ever before as streaming has expanded onto desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, watches, car infotainment systems, smart TVs and smart speakers.
 
As a result, radio revenues have stabilised as more products are embraced by consumers.
 
Smartphone ownership has now plateaued at 84% with the consensus being that everyone that wants a smartphone has now bought one. Combined with tablet ownership which is much more popular than smartphones among the 65+ demographic, most of the population is now covered.
 
As data plans from telcos have become much more affordable, listening to radio on mobile devices is getting close to being free or at least negligible.
 
Bluetooth headphones and the new generation of watches and wearables is adding to consumption of audio.
 
Smart speakers have now moved from the Early Adaptor stage to the Early Majority with connected cars now beginning to grow, especially with connections through smartphones.
 
Alexa is now making its way into cars, and here is a handy hint… attach a first-generation Echo Dot to the cars entertainment system to add Alexa to your car. It fits neatly into the cup holder and works off your phone’s internet connection.

Podcasting will become a $1 billion market within the next 2 years

 The growth in online audio from 2005 to 2011 almost matches the growth in podcast consumption for the same years.

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View coverage of the RAIN Summit on Twitter here.


 


Reporter:

Wayne Stamm, on assignment in Dallas for radioinfo

 

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