Lakeville, Minnesota, May 29, 2020: Adams Radio Group CEO Ron Stone announced today in an email to over 4,000 broadcasters that the IBA can and will become a reality if it is something they want and will support. Stone first brought up the idea of the IBA in April when he asked independent stations to come together and support RadioCares to help raise money for Feeding America. That effort ended with 3,400 individual stations participating along with several major networks.
Stone says “there has never been a time in radio history when this organization has been needed more. If we cannot pull this together now, then when? All independents need the help this highly focused organization will bring in revenue generation, cost savings and shared resources. We have just under 1,000 stations already signed up on the site in two days. There are 7,000 independents. I believe more of the independents than not will see the value of this organization. The next two weeks will determine how interested the industry is in this concept as the recipients of my email have time to digest it and respond.”
Here is the landing page for owners / operators that are interested to sign up without any commitment, allowing the IBA to continue to account for the interest level and keep interested parties updated: http://radioiba.org/ Stone says all future correspondence from the IBA will be directed to those that have signed up on the site to receive the communications.
Here is Stone’s complete letter:
I hope this note finds you well and your stations have begun to operate again under more normal conditions than what we have been challenged with over the past several weeks.
A few weeks back when I reached out regarding RadioCares, I mentioned more communication would be coming your way on the idea of creating an Independent Broadcasters Association (IBA). I cannot imagine a better time than now to begin discussing this idea.
The concept is to serve independent radio stations in ways we are NOT being served by existing organizations and provide independent operators with ways to drive revenue and achieve cost benefits from scale that cannot be achieved alone. Below reflects my thoughts on what the organization would focus on right away and during the first two years.
- Group Employee Benefits – better coverage and lower prices, and potentially add additional benefits for our employees.
- Revenue Generation – An unwired network & digital platform supported by a national sales team to monetize for us.
- Digital Services Group – This would enable continuity across independent stations giving us the opportunity to accomplish double digit digital revenue through Web, Mobile, Alexa, & Streaming
- Shared Resources – A system that allows sharing of that talent in non-competitive situations and reduces our dependence on national syndication that requires cash, barter and sometimes both.
- Proprietary Systems and Services – Under the umbrella of a member owned association, we can create proprietary systems that we control and eliminate some of the costly monthly per station fees for traffic, accounting, CRM, Yield Management, even automation and music scheduling.
This will of course take time, like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. But as independents, we are 7,000 stations strong, and multiply what each of us pay for any one service, it becomes crystal clear that through a membership owned organization, we would have the wherewithal to accomplish this, and the revenue growth and savings would be astronomical.
I encourage you to visit http://radioiba.org/ and provide some limited information if you are interested in participating. Providing your information does not commit you to anything, but will allow us to know if interest is strong enough to move forward with the formation of a board and a 501(c)(6) organization and get to work on behalf of independent radio.
Sincerely,
Ron
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