RAB President/CEO Erica Farber gave her opening remarks on Wednesday to the 2012 Radio Show (produced by the NAB and RAB). In her prepared speech, Farber discussed the theme of the 2012 Radio Show, which is "Hear what's next!"

After thanking the multiple parties involved in the Radio Show, Farber said, "We know the majority of our listeners and consumers are not listening to us in the dark but I wanted to take a couple of minutes to make a point. I wanted to remind you of the importance of what it is you do. The importance of audio information and entertainment. Radio is not tied to a device - radio is everywhere - it's in the car, it's online, it's on your phone, on your on mobile devices and believe it or not some people are still listening to radio through a radio!

Consumers today are interacting with us across all kinds of platforms. We are the leading audio content providers in the world and are being copied daily. There is a reason everyone wants to be like us and there are reasons they like to use our name. Radio has tremendous consumer adoption but we cannot stop at that. We truly have the ears of our markets, but we cannot take them for granted!

We all need to continue to present our portfolios to every local, regional and national advertiser and advertising agency. We need to present innovative solutions to help them reach their consumers. We all need to think beyond just selling 10's, 30's and 60's.

Radio today is not about having a separate conversation about our on-air product or our digital strategy. Radio today is about respecting the listeners, delivering products that she or he are interested in and recognizing that our listeners are listening in different ways than most of us ever thought possible.

As diverse of a group as the industry is today, there is one thing I guarantee that everyone in this room can agree on - growing our industry. On behalf of the staff at the RAB we all look forward to working together now to continue to insure a strong and bright future for this great medium!"