A key New York based executive associated with Clear Channel and RCS, Mark Hirschhorn, was in Australia last week, and he spoke to radioinfo about current trends in radio automation software.
Hirschhorn is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at RCS, and has more than 15 years of financial executive experience in multinational corporations, public offerings, private placements, mergers and acquisitions.
RCS and one of its main competitors in the radio automation software market, Prophet systems, were both bought out recently by Clear Channel to achieve synergies and growth. Hirschhorn told radioinfo the deals were “a perfect marriage” of technical skills and applications.
RCS is well known for its Selector and Master Control scheduling systems, while Prophet Systems supplies NexGen and MusicGen.
Hirschhorn says the business rationale behind acquiring both companies is because radio stations operated by Clear Channel value the software and wanted to be able to develop it further as the radio industry moves forward into new media fields:
“Both are now better funded for research and development and can expand for the benefit of both. We now have two world class development teams together now.”
Two recent developments, the sale of Clear Channel and the Google/Clear Channel radio sales alliance, mean that more will be expected of software at the back end of radio stations. When radioinfo asked about the merger of the two programs, or new enhancements, Hirschhorn was quick to reassure users that both companies would be supporting their own products for many years to come, but said future products would certainly be developed to take advantage of new demands coming from cross-media strategies.
“We are aware that we can’t sit back and rest on the good will we have built up over the years. Our customers love what we have to offer, but are also demanding we keep up with their needs. A lot of competitors have also come in at the less expensive end of the market and, while we can’t compete with them on price, they can’t match our feature rich professional services, so we will always have a very significant part to play in the market.”
On the Google radio ads deal, Hirschhorn says it “will add value to radio advertising sales” and everyone in radio will “benefit from better pricing and the ability to buy radio in an easier way.”
radioinfo asked if radio sales and scheduling staff will lose their jobs as a result of the changes. Hirschhorn thinks not, but says there are likely to be changes as radio people adapt to new ways of selling advertising.
While the moves towards this new trend are taking place in America, Hirschhorn also notes that Australia has been a great test bed for new products, with Australian advertising and radio professionals being happy to try new software applications such as MusicPoint and AirCheck.