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Westwood One put together an 18 page presentation that was designed to help the radio industry understand the relationship between the perceived and actual audience size of AM/FM radio and streaming services. On page 17 of the presentation, the conclusion page, it states that “The radio industry needs to do a better job of telling our story.”
As divided as opinions over candidates may be, as raucous as the sound bites may get – there is still something Americans can agree on during this election cycle – radio is the clear winner for getting your political message to the voters who count.
In the two and a half years since Nielsen took over Arbitron, they have released numerous studies and papers highlighting the strength of radio and its value to both listeners and advertisers. At the same time, industry leaders, such as Pierre Bouvard at Westwood One, have compiled effective slide decks about the value of radio. I commend their openness to share these decks with the industry. We at Research Director, Inc. have armed our clients with similar ammunition demonstrating why radio remains a vibrant form of audio entertainment and a desirable option for advertisers.
According to the InsideRadio article, “Inside Story: Music Only One Key To Urban Contemporary Rise,” in the summer of 2015, the Urban Contemporary format broke records for listening when the format peaked with a 3.7 share of the 6+ audience. The gains that the Urban Contemporary format experienced were not exclusive to the 6+ demo as the format experienced growth in the 25-54 demo as well. In the 25-54 demo, the growth was consistent throughout the 2016 calendar year, starting with a 4.2 in January to a 4.4 in March. According to the March 2016 National PPM Format Trends, Urban Contemporary finished fourth overall behind Top 40, Country, and Hot AC.
For years we all have heard about the media buyer who just wants to get the buy off of their desk. They look at a ranker and get proposals from the top ten stations, and end up buying those five that come in with the lowest CPP. Format does not matter, nor does what the station means to the community. Most damaging is the failure to consider if these stations’ listeners are right for this particular account.
