Mike Francesa: Radio Has Done a Terrible Job Monetizing Digital Platforms

Mike Francesa — an avowed favorite of the TBL commentariat — spoke at the Talk Radio Seminar in New York earlier this week. If you happen to work in media, it was a pretty interesting 15-minute speech. After cracking a joke about Chris Russo — I used to have a partner, but I lost him, and I can’t find him — he talked about how his job ultimately boils down to helping the local car dealer get foot traffic into his showroom, the restaurateur to attract eaters, etc.

Francesa also talked about how you personally must be a multi-platform brand to stand out in this industry, and said that his job has changed in the nearly 30 years he’s been at WFAN — in the same time slot — from being someone whose primary responsibility was to inform to having to supply a never-ending barrage of fresh takes.

Finally, he talked about the challenges of monetizing content in a digital marketplace. He mentioned the struggle of Twitter, which is an indispensable source of information for many — including his own show — to capitalize on its status, and compared that to CBS’s apparent inability to make money from cutting up his show into iterative web fodder. He’s lucky enough to have made a fortune in radio and not have to worry about what comes next in this regard, but he did a great job laying out the conundrum for everyone in the room who hopes to follow in his footsteps.

[Video via Poulos]