Video Didn’t Kill Radio and Neither Will iPhone 7

September 14, 2016

Radio always adapts to whatever it’s confronted with. July 1, 1941, television viewers saw their first 10-second advertisement; and RADIO adapted. In the late 1970s, walkmans (portable audio cassette/tape players) became the craze; and RADIO adapted. On October 23, 2001, the iPod was born (The iPod is a line of portable media players and multi-purpose pocket computers); and RADIO adapted. July 1, 2002, Sirius was officially launched; and RADIO adapted. And, I remember attending the NAB/RAB Orlando conference in 2013 when iTunes Radio launched on September 18, 2013. The launch of iTunes Radio was the talk of the conference that day and guess what; RADIO adapted.

I’m saying this all to make the point that “Radio is and has always been ADAPTABLE.” Not even the new release of the iPhone 7 without a headphone “earbud” jack will kill the radio storm.

Another thing to think about … who or what has made anything easy for RADIO?? With that thought in mind, how many times has radio overcome the odds and continued to thrive and WIN? A few things to think about when thinking about how Radio is WINNING …

• It’s Radio that reaches 93% of all Americans nationally.
• It’s AM/FM Radio’s share that is 9 times larger than Pandora and 17 times larger than Spotify.

• It’s Radio’s reach that continues to grow, while TV reach continues to erode.

• It’s Radio that has the highest reach of Adults 25-54 versus the other media options.

-Nakia Smith, Sr. Sales Research Consultant

Bullet 1: Advertiser Perceptions, May 2015 & Nielsen Total Audience Report, Q1 2015

Bullet 2: Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q2 2015

Bullet 3: Nielsen Comparable Metrics, Q3 2015

Bullet 4: Scarborough USA+, Release 2 2015, Aug14-Oct15 (Courtesy of RAB)

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