Pending Business: Dizzying Media Headlines
By Steve Lapa
Lapcom Communications Corp
President
The media headlines are dizzying these days, yet they all share one common thread. See if you can solve this puzzle.
1. The “Golden Batchelor” is getting divorced, three months after tying the knot.
2. Netflix is changing their film strategy, that according to The New York Times, may mean fewer big advances to stars.
3. NCAA Women’s basketball final delivered more TV viewers than UConn’s back-to-back championship finale vs. Purdue.
4. Retail media networks are real and could replace terrestrial radio as the true purchase influencer.
These headlines reflect what great radio programmers learned a long time ago, and what smart sellers practice every day. The concept is elegantly simple: give the people what they want, and the rest will take care of itself.
The “Golden Batchelor” was targeted at the 55+ audience. The biggest demographic watching traditional TV. The finale drew over 6 million viewers and gave millions of seniors hope for romance at any age. Give the people what they want, and the audience and advertisers followed. The breakup, well maybe that leans more Dr. Phil, and he is starting his own network!
Netflix has a new film boss, Dan Lin, and according to a recent article in The New York Times, he wants the Netflix film lineup to have a wider appeal to more of us 260 million Netflix subscribers. Sound familiar? Give a bigger share of the audience more of what they want.
Pioneering radio programmers learned that strategy before Netflix was a business model.
Start with Top 40 music radio, go to the all-news model and park your pick on your favorite pioneering talk radio talent. Listeners got what they wanted, as audience and advertisers followed.
Nearly 19 million watched as Caitlin Clark tried one last time to drive her team to victory. Her final push wasn’t enough to defeat a determined South Carolina team. It didn’t matter to the millions who tuned in and the advertisers who were smart enough to jump on board. Give the fans a superstar from Iowa named Caitlin and an audience of millions will follow.
Don’t look now, but that old-school pitch of radio being the final purchase influencer as the radio plays in the car on the way to the store, is fading fast. I can’t tell you how many times I made that classic pitch, until I heard “Attention ______ shoppers” as I pushed my cart down the aisle.
Retail media networks are now online as well as “on-the-air” in store, and we are spending more and more time shopping online.
What does it all mean to you, the seller? Simple! Just find what your advertisers want and sell it!
Steve Lapa is the president of Lapcom Communications Corp. based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Lapcom is a media sales, marketing, and development consultancy. Contact Steve Lapa via email at: Steve@Lapcomventures.com.