The advertising market is gloomy, and radio is in a particular funk. But Doug Perlson still feels pretty good.
Perlson heads TargetSpot Inc., which acquired a rival in October to create the largest seller of Internet radio ads. New York-based TargetSpot will handle online ads for more than 1,000 stations, including those owned by terrestrial broadcasters such as CBS Radio, which is an investor in TargetSpot, and Internet-only radio sites such as those on AOL and Live 365.
Partly because this market is nascent, “our business has a good shot at more than doubling in 2009,” Perlson said. His company does not disclose sales figures.
TargetSpot sells 15-, 30- and 60-second audio ads for online radio stations, with companion visual ads, that can be targeted to people in specific geographic areas, based on the Internet address of a listener’s computer, among other factors.
Advertisers can also track whether an ad is effective, because listeners can, for instance, click on a link to be routed to a certain Web site.
TargetSpot began two years ago with ads from local businesses. But Perlson said major advertisers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Macy’s Inc. have signed up.
If TargetSpot can help Internet radio stations make more money, the timing couldn’t be better. Radio stations are under the gun to raise online ad revenue because of the higher royalties they could have to pay to stream music over the Internet.
Last year, the Library of Congress’ Copyright Royalty Board raised the fees that Internet radio stations pay artists to play their music online through 2010. Online radio stations said the increases were cost-prohibitive and threatened their survival. The prospect led Yahoo Inc. last week to meld its online radio operations with those of CBS Corp.
Congress has passed a bill that would give government backing to deals negotiated on more favorable terms, but there are no guarantees, said Jake Ward, a spokesman for SaveNetRadio, a coalition of online radio stations.
That’s where TargetSpot could come in. For now, it is the only independent company exclusively specializing in online radio ads. While the size of the Internet radio ad market is debatable because the largest radio networks do not break out figures for these ads, the most common estimate used is around $500 million, according to eMarketer, a research firm.
Kamala Harris Receives Chairman’s Prize At NAACP Image Awards
Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.
"While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the oval office nor by the wealthiest among us," Harris said after receiving the NAACP's Chairman's Award. "The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people."
The 56th annual Image Awards was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the Los Angeles area.
Harris, defeated by Trump in last year's presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state's attorney general.
In her first major public appearance since leaving office, Harris did not reference her election loss or Trump's actions since entering the Oval Office, although Trump mocked her earlier in the day at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Harris spoke about eternal vigilance, the price of liberty, staying alert, seeking the truth and America's future.
"Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask 'What do we do now?'" Harris said. "But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before. And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate. We advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path."
Other winners of the Chairman's prize have included former... Read More