Radiocentre CEO Siobhan Kenny’s 2016 round-up

At least the headline writers won’t be short of material when it comes to the inevitable year-end round ups in 2016. In our recent industry survey, completed by Radiocentre members, agencies, advertisers, regulators and other friends, the main cause of anxiety/uncertainty for the years ahead was the fall-out post Brexit and the possible adverse economic consequences. This year is the year I have given up making political predictions of any sort, so let’s stick with what we know now. Despite all the seismic shocks going on around us, radio continues motoring on in the very rudest of health. It looks like we will finish this year 4.7% up in terms of advertising revenues. And while we don’t want to cast aspersions on others, that is a pretty mega achievement given that TV is forecast to be up only 1.5% and newspapers down 9.7%. Why exactly is radio bucking the trend?

Well, obviously, I will be saying in no small part thanks to the sterling efforts of Radiocentre. But, of course, it is mainly due to the brilliance and vibrancy of our radio teams up and down the country who continue to produce the best and most compelling audio content. At Radiocentre this year we launched our new campaign, urging advertisers and regulators to think again, and to See Radio Differently. The theme permeated all our big projects this year. Radio: The Brand Multiplier revealed compelling new evidence about radio’s ability to drive strategic brand growth. It is available here and Mark Barber and the team are currently touring agencies and visiting clients to explain more about it.

The ad campaign which kicked off See Radio Differently involved shout-outs to reluctant radio advertisers who had no notion of the radio campaign directed at them until their colleagues and kids started hearing the ads. We were chuffed to bits to be included in Campaign’s list of the top ten radio ads for 2016. Many thanks to the brilliant Lucky Generals who worked with us on the campaign and with whom we will continue to develop the next phase. In the unlikely event that anyone managed to miss it, here is a link.

It’s been a busy old year for our policy team. Once again, Brexit had an impact and the consultation paper on radio regulation which was due to be published before the summer recess was delayed as a new Ministerial team arrived at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. As we approach year end, I have to say that we probably won’t see publication this side of Christmas. However, we are assured the consultation paper will appear in the first couple of weeks of the New Year at which time Radiocentre will assist the Department in organising consultation meetings across the country. The BBC Charter is now finalised and the next steps will be to ensure that the new governance arrangements work for radio as well as the broader media sector. Ofcom have produced their first analysis of roles and responsibilities in the new regime and work plan here.

The Brexit vote has had implications for our lobbying campaign on irksome terms and conditions at the end of radio advertisements which do nothing to assist consumers but really do manage to deter advertisers from using the medium of radio. We continue to press our case for a regulatory change in Brussels, but more through the good offices of our friends in the Association of European Radios, since the UK is clearly not alone in feeling the impact of this ineffective regulation. Since the UK Government has been very supportive, we are also exploring opportunities to lead the way in effective regulation in the UK.

I very much enjoy the variety of my job and one of my great pleasures is to listen to the riveting back and forth arguments of our clearance team as they grapple with the niceties of the BCAP code and help advertisers craft messages which are fully compliant. The most legendary example is one of the team suggesting that they would need empirical proof that God exists before being able to clear an ad for broadcast. You can’t say we aren’t dealing with the big existential questions here at Radiocentre. Hats off to the team who cleared an amazing 30,000 scripts for broadcast this year and whose service was rated most highly by our recent member survey.

And on the subject of the survey, many thanks to all who filled it in. It has really helped shape our thinking for 2017 priorities. Read more about the survey here. We know we should travel out of London more – hence our Tuning In North event in Manchester in late November. There are more roadshows planned for next year – we always learn a lot getting to know more of our members and their clients. Placing radio in the wider digital audio context was a theme that came through again and again – that is a major part of our strategy for next year. Alongside thinking of ever more creative ways to get the world to See Radio Differently.

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a great New Year from all your friends at Radiocentre.