Dear Radio Executive:

I had the pleasure last month to attend the ADISQ conference in Montreal, Canada. The ADISQ was founded in 1978 to to support the development of the music industry in Quebec. The organization also is significantly involved in issues related to the regulation of the Canadian broadcast industry

I was asked to present Bridge Ratings' most up-to-date data related to "The Future of Radio" and while that particular project reflects the future of traditional radio use as well as new media growth, it does so for the U.S. industry. My Canadian counterparts were very interested in what was developing in the "states" as it applied to the impact of new media on traditional radio.

As recently as two years ago, Bridge Ratings updated its future media use projections every six months. In late 2005 it became necessary to update these numbers more frequently - as often as every three months because the behavior of media consumers is truly ever-changing. Bridge Ratings' projections of satellite radio use have been adjusted down in recent months while other media appear to be gaining acceptance faster. These media would include Internet radio, digital player (MP3) expansion and cell phones.

In fact, we are beginning to see signs that cell phone penetration into the marketplace is significant enough that enhanced Internet radio (with Wi-Fi), once thought to be a significant competitor for time-spent-listening among users of traditional radio, may be surpassed by cell phones as a delivery system for all things audio and visual.

Canadians have just this year been able to subscribe to satellite radio as XM entered the market; there are very few subscribers at this point, so the attendees of my presentation were fascinated by the 5 year head start satellite radio has had in the U.S. and its projected impact.

A separate research project was presented at the conference by the Circum Network regarding the impact of new media on Canadian terrestrial radio. They found that there has been only a 2% reduction in time-spent-listening to traditional radio. What was fascinating about their findings was that there is considerably more use of multiple media than previously thought and that traditional radio is still the dominant method for audio entertainment in the Great White North, as it is in the U.S.

Another presenter, Tarek Mami, President of one of France's radio groups, had a refreshing view of all the new media available for audio entertainment. Tarek believes that it's all radio and that the concept of "radio" listening diminishing is foolish. He believes that we're all experiencing a significant technological advancement for ways to consume audio and, in fact, because of all this new technology, radio listening is actually increasing because more technology is delivering radio content to more consumers.

It is helpful in this time of lightning fast change to get some perspective and my visit to Montreal gave much much insight. Sure, things are changing at a rapid clip and it all can seem so daunting if one doesn't balance it with some perspective. But, a key revelation that the radio industry must paste to their individual foreheads, is this:

What business are we in? The radio business...or the content business?

For those who can swallow the pill who understand that we are in the content business, the future at once doesn't seem so overwhelming for the broadcast business. The radio industry must accept and embrace the new technology, develop content to distribute through this new technology and use what it learns through this experience to enhance the traditional methods (analog radio) for now.

It is likely that traditional radio as we remember it from the 60's through the 90's, is gone forever and the industry should not allow those fond memories to affect its ability to read the future. Those companies that embrace the new and distribute their content pervasively, will likely win. And traditional radio has a very powerful secret ingredient: its brands. Use your brands as you embrace the new technology and much of the battle for the consumer's mind will be taken care of.

Your feedback is vital to our company's on-going success. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Dave Van Dyke

President