CC Radio’s Harrison Reveals Net Strategy

FMQB interviews Clear Channel Radio’s internet guru Evan Harrision, "It’s been a little over eight months since Harrison’s arrival…"

"…On the Sneak Peek initiative: "There are a lot of options these days for artists and managers and I want to make sure we’re in that game aggressively. What Sneak Peek brings to the table that’s different, obviously, is on-air promotion to millions of music fans a week. At the end of the day, it’s the dual medium that will define what we’re offering here, where we can make something an event on-air and drive people online."

"On the launch of Z100’s Phone Tap podcast and subsequent expansion: "It’s been a huge way to extend our brand. We’ve delivered over one million pieces of content in just over four weeks…Now we’re going to start selling these on a local level where an advertiser can have a 15-second message before that five-minute piece of premium content."

" On the expected overhaul of Clear Channel’s radio station Web sites: "You’ll see a complete overhaul of all of our music Web sites before the end of July…"

"On why Clear Channel will win online versus other music Web sites: "In the end, it’s radio’s unique ability to bring something to life on-air, really make an event out of it, and to drive people to a brand that they already trust. To bring them to our own brands online is natural for a listener, and it’s where radio really exceeds in that one-two punch of on-air and then being able to experience it online that really separates us from the pure play online competition."

"On goals for the next year: "Fine-tune the projects that we just started to roll out and…One key feature you’re going to see out-of-the-gate on those Web sites is all of the stations will have a listing of the last ten songs that played as well as the Top 10 songs and any other Top 10 type feature that the station wants to program locally. You’ll also see us pay more attention to label-produced music videos."