The rumor of my death has been greatly exaggerated was a quote from Mark Twain and the sentiment has been used by radio industry insiders to squelch the thought of radio’s demise. While nobody is challenging that audio space is fragmenting due to new technology, we’ve seen in our own research and even in Nielsen ratings that radio listening is still alive and well.
Deloitte Global, one of the “Big Four” accounting and business services firms, recently released a study they did of radio’s usage and audience profile in order to help give their clients projections on radio’s future. It is fantastic to see an organization outside of media validating things that we have been seeing in our strategic radio research.
Deloitte’s findings are not all “new” findings to anyone in the radio business but they are significant because the findings come from a party outside the broadcast business and they validate radio’s continuing strength.
Here are some of the highlights:
Radio continues to have huge reach.
Deloitte points to Nielsen data showing that 94% of all Americans listen to radio in a typical week.
Radio usage is falling slightly, but traditional TV watching is falling three times faster.
In this fragmented environment, the fact that radio usage is holding steady is fantastic news. In our strategic studies in North America, the demo we see usage falling most is among 15-24. That is undoubtedly a challenge, but radio can stem the tide if it sticks to what it is uniquely good at. (See below)
Radio is underreported.
Deloitte points out that consumers under-report the listening they give to radio compared to what meter data shows. That certainly impacts diary markets.
This underreporting of usage is not immune to PPM markets: We have found that there potentially is a huge amount of listening that meters do not pick up. While the numbers differ by market, we generally find 40-50% of listeners say they use earbuds or headphones when listening to audio, and as many as 15% of people spent 1/2 or more of their audio time using headphones or earbuds! That equates to 7.5% in missed usage…and missed revenue.
Click here to contact Strategic Solutions Research.
The car is a key battleground
Deloitte’s study says US and Canadian listeners use radio most while driving. There is no doubt that radio needs to continue winning in the car. In fact, in our research, we find that 3 out of 4 15-24s ONLY use radio in the car.
The growth of connected cars isn’t making life easier: We find over 10% lower usage to radio in connected cars.
There are important, unique advantages radio has that are not highlighted in Deloitte’s study
The Deloitte study points to ease-of-use and no-cost as the top drivers of radio usage, although DJs and new music discovery get mentions.
Our nationwide What Women Want study, done in 2017 with Alan Burns, highlights radio’s unique advantages that were not highlighted in the Deloitte study:
· Improving a listener’s mood
· Providing humor
· Giving companionship
· Offering a well-curated collection of music and information.
Learn more: Free What Women Want Study.
What radio does isn’t just about playing the best songs – it is about creating the best connections with listeners. Remember that listeners’ moods change during the day; they punch presets or station apps to find stations that match their mood at a given moment. Listeners count on radio to do that.
Another key aspect not mentioned in the Deloitte research is that listeners have tight bonds not to radio in general, but to their favorite station. We found in What Women Want that a woman loves her favorite radio station as much as Amazon and much more than Apple, Spotify or Pandora.
We find in our strategic research that a high-performing station evokes an emotional bond with listeners, which an audio platform can’t match. That is why radio needs to continue to deliver not only a listener’s favorite song, but also a curated offering of humor, information, entertainment and companionship. Our strongest clients, like MOViN 92.5/Seattle or KIIS/Los Angeles, are like friends to listeners in those markets.
Radio and the smart speaker
One item we didn’t see addressed in the Deloitte study is the increased usage of smart speakers and the opportunity it presents to radio. Ten years ago, you would be hard-pressed to find a radio in a home; smart speakers and other audio systems like Sonos have brought audio back into the home. Radio needs to consider this as a huge opportunity to increase usage rather than a vehicle for audio competition to create more fragmentation. We encourage you to look at this as the glass being full!
It is great to see Deloitte encouraging their clients to have faith in radio; we’re excited about what is next and the opportunities that smart speakers and other tech offers the radio industry.
You can read Deloitte’s full study here: https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/industry/technology/technology-media-and-telecom-predictions/radio-revenue.html