Austereo CEO, Michael Anderson told radioinfo this week, “We might not always make the right decision, but we can’t be accused of not making a decision at all.” Right or wrong, Austereo has made some big decisions of late. Firstly the decision to hire Roy & H.G for Triple M, but allow them to work just Mondays and Fridays – “Unheard of,” bleat many amongst Radio’s establishment. Then the decision to launch their first digital channel, Radar which will feature nothing but new music from unsigned acts. “What, no hits? Radio suicide!” say the pundits. And where is the research for all this? Nowhere.

No focus groups, no phone surveys, no attitudinal studies. Just good old seat-of-the-pants intuition by seasoned professionals who are tuned into their market. Gosh! That’s what Radio used to be like when it was fun and exciting.

Many years ago, a legendary U.S. program consultant, George Burns confided in me that half his clients research everything to the enth degree and half don’t. Of those that do, half of them are very successful and half aren’t. And of those that don’t, half are very successful and half aren’t. Go figure.

Some would expect more from a publicly listed commercial entity such as Austereo than just a “suck it and see” approach. Others say Radio is ultimately a creative medium, like movies. Steven Speilberg doesn’t go around putting his production ideas in front of focus groups. He simply makes the movie and hopes people like it. Hooray for Hollywood!

Is Radio over researched? Should more stations take more punts even though there are enormous dollars at stake? Who’d know, gentle reader, if not you?

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