One of the worlds largest radio groups, Clear Channel (USA), has said the industry must “make the digital revolution come to radio”.
The call, made by Clear Channel Chairman Bob Pittman, follows last weeks call by one of Ireland’s most powerful ad agencies for Irish radio to properly embrace digital also.
Mr Pittman is particularly qualified to make the call. Before leading Clear Channel he was a co-founder of MTV and COO of AOL. Speaking at a major advertising conference he said embracing digital brings “real benefits to the radio business and …

Radio needs to embrace digital and start doing some joined up thinking. That was the message to the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI) conference this week from Peter McPartlin, Strategy Director at Ireland’s largest media buyer Carat Ireland.

Short article in todays Irish Independent about where DAB is in Ireland. Though development of the platform has effectively stalled here, there are some very positive indications in the article.
RTÉ are as keen as ever to get the commericials involved, though it’s interesting to note they want them involved on RTÉ’s own DAB platform. My personal opinion is that this will never happen.
For the commercials, the IBI and UTV Radio appear to consider DAB as part of the future, but absolutely not a priority under the current economic climate.
For our …

Photo Steve Garry
Lively DAB discussion at the IBI conference last Tuesday during the final session on the Future of Broadcasting.
Dan Healy of iRadio boldly stated DAB was a failure in the UK. Lucy Gaffney, Communicorp Chair, was upset to think DAB broadcasters might not have the same obligations her stations had to endure. Pat Donnelly from Channel 6 warned DAB would be swamped by UK stations.
On the other hand David Tighe, IBI Chair and Chief Exec Live 95FM, said the bigger threat to independent radio was now new media …