Unfiltered Access In A Filtered World; The Phenomenon of “Radio Row”

There are few sites as unique as “Radio Row” at the Super Bowl. Once a one stop shop for the handful of diehard stations looking to promote the game, it has now evolved into a “who’s who” gathering of stars big and small, brands large and launching, pitches good and bad, and most importantly media sites of various shapes and sizes. However for all the hype and hoopla, radio row is a throwback to the era from which it started in many ways; a face to face gathering of media types, brand ambassadors  and celebrities live and in living color and for the most part, without filter.  

The site this year, in the ballroom of the Sheraton in Manhattan, was also so full that ESPN and New York’s WFAN moved elsewhere to individual sponsored sites at Bryant Park and the M and M store of all places, while keeping satellite locations in the room for individual or off-hour guests. And while it is about live audio, with a smattering of TV, “Radio Row” has also become the home for podcasters, streamers, and networked sites of all sizes from Bleacher Report to SB Nation. Throw in various media with a mic and an IPhone with day passes, and the potential for encountering someone willing to talk a topic is pretty strong.

A 20 minute afternoon window  on Friday was a great slice of what Radio Row has become.  Standing at the entrance waiting for a friend, an eclectic mix of faces; Kevin Costner, Jesse Jackson, Miss World (with tiara and everything), Jim Brown, Dennis Leary, Spike Lee, Sean Astin, Michael Vick, all wandered in and out, chatting up media members, playing to carefully orchestrated scripts, stopping for selfies, and of course talking football.  An endless stream of products from ticketing sites to e-cigarettes to personal pizzas to custom jewelry and even fashion socks, were being touted by recognizable and sometimes obscure faces, while scores of radio producers and other scoured the room to find compelling guests for a few minutes at a time to fill the hours of air from Vancouver to Caracas. Maybe because it was New York, but the vibe was really unlike anything in media; more a tribute to the value of the spoken word and the integration of new and digital media that seemed to make it all flow in a disjointed way. The Olympics has its media center, the NBA and MLB have their hubs at All-Star, the US Open for golf and tennis have massive media setups, but the confluence of people and personalities all on top of each other for “Radio Row” is unparalleled.

Now is “Radio Row” exposure for everyone? No. Thursday Aaron Paul and Kid Cudi went through four hours of live radio and TV for their upcoming film “Need For Speed,” ranging from CBS and NFL Network to all-sports radio in Baltimore, Nashville, and Philly just to name a few, crisscrossing the room to find the obscure tables of each station. They rarely complained and kept up the pace to hype the film, two guys who got the junket circuit and took the push to get the value. Friday Marlon Wayans came in to talk about his latest film “Haunted House 2,” and stayed in the top part of the room, hitting only national outlets while posing for any number of shots with other stars like Jackson, Jamie Foxx and Chris Tucker. The breakneck pace of radio row wasn’t the goal; it was only the larger outlets. Costner was there for a presser for “Draft Day,” his new film, and avoided the room altogether, doing hos media outside the craziness, but having to endure the crowd like everyone else in and out of the second floor ballroom.

For a brand or a media outlet looking for promotion, it really came down to spokesperson, advance work, and timing. Thursday’s schedule in the crowded space with two pop culture stars was hectic but worked and could have gone on for another hour with outlets far and wide. Friday the room was even more packed as the final wave of stations from across the world came in to set up shop for the weekend, and the chances of getting air time for a vague name or brand with major markets was much less.

If you were looking for volume, hitting stations earlier in the week was better, if you were looking for hyper-local, targeting key markets in advance was best; if you had a “celebrity” looking to bring an entourage or stop for lunch or hang out quietly in a green room then this was not your place; it is the melting pot of sports and entertainment  where thin skins can be exposed and everyone at every minute is on stage to countless numbers of cell phones, tweets, and text messages. There is no filter, no red carpet, and although most people are respectful and all are credentialed, the chances for even a small blow up that could become a major incident for a misplaced celebrity endorser or spokesperson is pretty high. It is certainly not a place for the uninitiated, and it is a place where the aggressive survive and thrive.

At the end of the day, for a brand or an athlete or even a celebrity looking to make a dent there is probably no greater one stop shop than “Radio Row” at The Super Bowl. The well placed can get their five minutes of airtime over and over again in markets big and small and although the overt commercialism some may try would not work, the room is much more about the sound than about the visual, so delivering brand messages via radio and digital is possible, even for an ambush marketer.  You have the opportunity to go market to market even if you don’t land a quasi-name on Jim Rome or Mad Dog Radio, and then leveraging those interviews, video, and photos to tell a bigger story post-visit is the key. That type of exposure, and the quick hit photos, along with all the advance planning to know where and when to arrive, is invaluable. Radio Row isn’t the easiest place to push product or faces, but for the well-timed it can be fun, rewarding and highly effective.

Sometimes Super Bowl doesn’t live up to its hype; however the real hype is done well before kickoff and miles away from Met Life Stadium this week, on the airwaves across the world from one oversized ballroom, with hundreds telling stories to millions. That is as much the nexus of the success of the NFL as the games itself; creating a vehicle to tell stories and promote 24/7 when not a single ball has been kicked for a week. The media machine rolls on.