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Zenith’s Feinberg: Radio a ‘Pain in the Butt’

Radio is nothing more than a pain in the butt when it comes to buying advertising, said one radio and interactive buyer during the Interep Radio Symposium.

Buyers want digital, and “radio is not there,” said Zenith Media’s Matt Feinberg, who oversees the company’s radio and interactive divisions, writes Radio Ink. “People want pure digital buys…. Radio is a line item, a nuisance. It’s a pain in the butt right now.” Radio should be doing more in the online space, he said, pointing out that while Citadel and Clear Channel have done some “good things” online, radio as a whole hasn’t stepped up to the digital frontier.

But Mediaedge:CIA senior partner/director of radio Kim Vasey said that, when armed with the right data, agencies can make a strong case to advertisers. OMD U.S. director for national radio investment Natalie Swed Stone said that there isn’t enough research about radio being done at the agencies, and that in order to get support from advertisers, agencies must bring solid radio data to the table.