iHeartMedia 2007 Annual Report Download - page 7

Americas and International Outdoor
We seek to capitalize on our global outdoor network and diversified product mix to maximize revenue. In addition, by sharing best
practices among our business segments, we believe we can quickly and effectively replicate our successes throughout the markets in which we
operate. Our diversified product mix and long-standing presence in many of our existing markets provide us with the platform to launch new
products and test new initiatives in a reliable and cost-effective manner.
Drive Outdoor Media Spending. Outdoor advertising only represented 3.4% of total dollars spent on advertising in the United States in
2006 as reported by Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast. Given the attractive industry fundamentals of outdoor media
and our depth and breadth of relationships with both local and national advertisers, we believe we can drive outdoor advertising’s share of total
media spending by highlighting the value of outdoor advertising relative to other media. We have made and continue to make investments in
research tools that enable our clients to better understand how our displays can successfully reach their target audiences and promote their
advertising campaigns. Also, we are working closely with clients, advertising agencies and other diversified media companies to develop more
sophisticated systems that will provide improved demographic measurements of outdoor advertising. We believe that these measurement
systems will further enhance the attractiveness of outdoor advertising for both existing clients and new advertisers and further foster outdoor
media spending growth.
Increase Our Share of Outdoor Media Spending. We intend to continue to work toward ensuring that our customers have a superior
experience by leveraging our presence in each of our markets and by increasing our focus on customer satisfaction and improved measurement
systems. We believe our commitment to superior customer service, highlighted by our unique “Proof of Performance” system, and our superior
products will lead to new advertisers and growth in existing advertising categories.
Digital Billboard Conversion Initiatives. Advances in electronic displays, including flat screens, LCDs and LEDs, allow us to provide
these technologies as alternatives to traditional methods of outdoor advertising. These electronic displays may be linked through centralized
computer systems to instantaneously and simultaneously change static advertisements on a large number of displays. These capabilities will
allow us to transition from selling space on a display to a single advertiser to selling time on that display to multiple advertisers. We believe
this transition will create new advertising opportunities for our existing clients and will attract new advertisers, such as certain retailers that
desire to change advertisements frequently and on short notice. We recently began converting a limited number of vinyl boards to networked
digital boards. We believe that the costs of digital upgrades will decrease over time as technologies improve and more digital boards come to
market.
Consolidated
Achieve Operating Efficiencies. We intend to closely manage expense growth and to continue to focus on achieving operating
efficiencies throughout our businesses. Within each of our operating segments, we share best practices across our markets and continually look
for innovative ways to contain costs. We will continue to seek new ways of reducing costs across our global network.
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lternative Devices. The FM radio feature is expected to be integrated into MP3 players and cell phones. This should expand FM
listenership by “putting a radio in every pocket” with free music and local content and represents the first meaningful increase in the
radio installed base in the last 25 years.
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D Radio. HD radio enables crystal clear reception, interactive features, data services and new applications. Further, HD radio allows
for many more stations, providing greater variety of content which we believe will enable advertisers to target consumers more
effectively. The interactive capabilities of HD radio will potentially permit us to participate in commercial download services. On
December 6, 2005, we joined a consortium of radio operators in announcing plans to create the HD Digital Radio Alliance to lobby
auto makers, radio manufacturers and retailers for the rollout of digital radios. We plan to continue to develop compelling HD content
and applications and to support the alliance to foster industry conversion.
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nternet. Our websites hosted approximately 11.4 million unique visitors in December 2007 as measured by CommScore / Media
Metrix, making us one of the top five trafficked music websites. Streaming audio via the Internet provides increased listener reach and
new listener applications as well as new advertising capabilities.
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obile. We have pioneered mobile applications which allow subscribers to use their cell phones to interact directly with the station,
including finding titles/artists, requesting songs and downloading station wallpapers.