Love Theater? We've got an app for that. Oh wait, just kidding.

One of the radio stations that I manage here in Sacramento is currently in development for our own Iphone application. Listeners will be able to listen to our radio station on their phone 24/7, as well as access video content and podcasts from our website, see an up to the minute feed from the DJ blogs, connect with our social networking sites, and more. Will this make an impact in the monthly radio ratings? Perhaps not, but it is a powerful marketing tool that keeps us top of mind over our competitors, and keeps us relevant in the ever-busy lifestyle of today's youth culture.

I don't say this to brag because, to be quite frank, my parent company should have been rolling these apps out for their radio stations 18 months ago. An estimated 22 million people purchased Iphones in 2009, and that number is going to double in 2010.

If radio stations are late to the party, then Broadway producers are light years behind. A recent search for Broadway related Iphone applications listed only a handful of results, none of them particularly impressive. New York producers are sinking $100,000 a week into TV campaigns for "maintenance marketing" in an age where many viewers are fast forwarding through commercials on their DVR. Yet, there is a relatively inexpensive way to connect with not just the New York audience,but tourists who have already made plans on how to spend their theater dollar before they get to the city....and nobody is taking advantage of it.

If I am the producer of "American Idiot" and I know that the sustainability of my show hinges on getting younger, and possibly, first time theaters goers to the St James theater, I am immediately getting an Iphone app started for my show. Imagine downloading an app where you could preview songs from the soundtrack (with a link to buy the CD and download it right to your phone). You could include video footage of the "sizzle reel" with show clips, and Green Day fans can watch interviews with Billie Joe Armstrong discussing how great it is to be a part of Broadway. You could link to the twitter page for the show (ask the Next to Normal team how vital that has been to their marketing). Most importantly, there is a direct link to Telecharge to buy tickets.

Maybe some smart producer could even develop a partnership with Apple to sell tickets directly through an Itunes account??

Come on, Broadway! I realize some 1960's musicals have been brought back to the stage over the last year, but it doesn't mean we have to keep using 50 year old marketing strategies too.