Federated Media’s B100 was the first radio station to create a custom Alexa skill almost a year ago with the help of XAPPmedia. Recently, Radio Ink interviewed Federated’s Chief Strategy Officer and Director of Programming, James Derby, about how smart speakers fit into the radio broadcaster’s strategy and why it is important for radio stations in general to be on Alexa:
“It’s about convenience. There’s no question that in-home radio use has been on the decline for years. I’ve struggled with believing the numbers from Nielsen that show home radio usage at 30%. I work in the business and I don’t know people who own radios in their home. We looked at this device and said, “If people are using it in their home, office etc., and audio and music is something they can obtain here, then it’s a huge advantage for us to get back in the home.”
In addition to bringing radio back into the home, Derby also sees developing custom Alexa skills as an investment in the future, one that will grow and pay off in time:
“On any investment you want to have revenue coming in, not just to pay for the investment, but to make something off it. We approach it like we did streaming. When we got started with streaming we could not afford not to be in that space. We feel the same way with this. This is something that by the year 2020 is going to be in 75%-85% of all households. It would be silly for us not to be there.”
Derby even discusses Nielsen ratings and how Alexa is adding to overall listener metrics. Other topics covered include:
- Alexa in the car – it’s coming soon and Federated welcomes it
- Monetization – generating revenue is a top priority
- Podcasts – creating new distribution for on demand content
To read the full interview, click here.
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