Financial analyst Jim Boyle had some tough words for radio ownership this week.

“What are radio leaders doing to change direction?” he asked in a newsletter, commenting in advance of the latest industry revenue figures. “Not much, it seems to us.”

“The industry’s larger groups do not appear ready to institute revolutionary changes yet in sales, programming, promotion or station clusters. There is a notable sense of denial of how harsh the prospects have been and continue to be for radio.

“The classic CEO reply is radio is not bleeding as badly as newspapers,” he continued. “We concede there is too little radio ad demand, but there is also too little rate card integrity and too little investment in radio’s product and people for the long term. It very much looks to us as all rear-guard counter-punching.”

He’s senior analyst and senior VP with CL King & Associates.