Electronic Media Wars: Who Will Be the First to Die?; Interep's Ralph Guild Discusses the State of the Radio Industry.

NEW YORK -- Internet radio, IPods, music downloads, and Howard Stern's move to satellite--the negative buzz on broadcast radio has reached new heights. Will radio be the first casualty of the new media technologies? Radio industry pioneer Ralph Guild, CEO of Interep (OTCBB:IREP), the largest independent radio marketing firm in the country, says, "No Way!"

Radio is getting a sour deal, says Guild. In recent weeks, media analysts at competing financial houses have been downgrading radio's outlook in what appears to be a race for the lowest forecast.

"Radio has become the scapegoat for a struggling economy in which all advertising is suffering," contends Guild. The artificial boost that television is receiving from unprecedented political spending, Guild believes, will level the playing field after the elections.

Is radio still a viable business model in the age of 500-channel cable systems, local Internet portals, on-line on-demand music channels, IPods, Wi-fi and WAP? Some say it has secular problems: it is no longer relevant to younger generations; its usefulness has been trumped by new technology; it is the lowest member of the electronic food chain, as competing media slowly chew away its audience. Others, like Guild, purport that radio listening is still extremely strong - reaching upwards of 90% of adults each week, and representing 32% of the average consumer's weekly media usage.

For over 75 years, radio has provided generations of Americans with music, entertainment, news, and vital bits of local information - traffic jams, rain storms, school closings - that carried its community through the day. The Telecom Act of 1996 promised to push radio to even greater heights - and for a few years it did just that. Media conglomerates embraced the radio business - buying up hundreds of stations and fueling double-digit revenue growth. For a brief run, radio was the darling of Wall Street.

Now we ask: Can the original broadcast medium retain its share of audience and regain favor with investors? Or, will radio as we know it go the way of the telegraph? The debate is on.

For an industry veteran's perspective on radio's latest controversy, contact Ralph Guild, CEO of Interep, at #212-916-0543, or [e-mail].

About Interep:

Interep is the largest independent sales and marketing company specializing in radio and complementary media, including the Internet. Major broadcast clients include ABC Radio, Cumulus Radio, Emmis, Entercom, Infinity Broadcasting, Radio One, Spanish Broadcasting System and Susquehanna Radio. For more information, please visit www.interep.com.