Ex-AOL Content Chief Bill Wilson Brings His Niche Media Strategy And Old Crew To Radio
December 13, 2010 at 09:52 AM EST
When Bill Wilson was in charge of content at AOL, he launched dozens of niche sites under their own sub-brands—everything from Daily Finance to country-music site The Boot . Last February, Wilson left AOL and landed at Townsquare Media , a radio company which owns 171 local stations. As the chief digital officer at Townsquare, he is bringing some of the niche media strategy he developed at AOL, along with hiring a crew of former colleagues, and applying it to Townsquare's local radio websites. Today, Townsquare relaunched 30 of its local radio websites in markets like Buffalo and Peoria , along with a new overarching country music site, Taste of Country . The rest of Townsquare's radio sites will be revamped over the next few months as well. Radio is already a local media. (It was local before local was hot). Now these websites will try to become a resource for local news, entertainment, and other information—little niche media sites in their own right.