Former Cumulus Chief Executive Lew Dickey has penned a tome about the media business, with some gnarly words for those in terrestrial radio broadcasting.
Dickey’s new book, “The New Modern Media,” from publisher Tourbillon International, a unit of Dickey-owned Modern Luxury Media, points out just how tough it is for ad-supported media businesses to make a shift into subscriptions.
“Radio broadcasters will be unlikely to benefit from subscription revenue for their core service, leaving them highly exposed to the ad markets,” he writes.
Cumulus acquired a stake in subscription music outfit Rdio as a hedge against the vagaries of the ad business. Then Rdio was acquired out of bankruptcy by Web radio player Pandora, and service was discontinued.
On Friday, the nation’s No. 1 radio station owner, iHeartMedia, announced it is getting into the subscription music business.
“Broadcast has a narrow path to participating in subscription revenue with its core business,” observed Dickey.
That’s a viewpoint that’s bound to spark a lot of static within the business.