The recipients of this year's award are not
victims, although many have suffered from poor management
and programming decisions in an industry that, as a whole,
but not necessarily individually, has lost its way in the
dizzying maze of technological advances in audio, video and
the Internet that have occurred during the past five or more
years.
The streets of the broadcasting industry are
paved with stories of individual and collective failures
that have led to great successes. It is the hope of
RDN that those who have lost their jobs will pledge to use
their unique skills and determination to overcome the
temporary setbacks of unemployment.
Larry Shannon, publisher of
RadioDailyNews.com said, "2007 seems to have been a year of
waiting. Waiting for the completion of and anticipated
sales and mergers of media companies including Clear
Channel, ABC Radio, Citadel, Cumulus, among
others. Technology and the understanding of it, how to
compete against it and find ways to use it to benefit and
reinvigorate terrestrial radio, seem to have overwhelmed
broadcasting industry leaders again in 2007 as they did in
2006. But, RadioDailyNews.com believes that there is hope
and we should all be on the outlook for signs that 2008 will
yield better results. Perhaps one or more of those who lost
their jobs in 2007 will find the answers."
RDN solicited feedback from its Web site's
visitors and subscribers, and determined from a variety of
sources the recipient of the "2008 Radio Person of the
Year".
The "Radio Person of the Year" recognition
from RadioDailyNews.com is not just a recognition, it also
represents a challenge to all in the broadcasting and
entertainment programming industries, in particular AM, FM,
HD Radio and satellite radio owners, managers, programmers
and talent, to dedicate themselves to provide and deliver to
the listener and viewer the best entertainment, information
and news programming that creative minds are capable of
conceiving.
(End of News Release)
