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The final PPM June books were just released. In coordination with XTrends, Research Director, Inc. has analyzed market listening in 47 of the 48 PPM markets and the results are encouraging for the radio industry.
While radio listening declined as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic shutdown, it has rebounded and is approaching pre-COVID-19 levels.
And the hits just keep on comin’ …
As of this writing, over 350 companies have “paused” their social media campaigns. This does not mean they are halting all of their digital spend. This is being done to get Facebook’s attention about the proliferation of mis-information and hate speech on its platforms.
Companies like Ford, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, and Target are willing to take a stand – and potentially sacrifice sales – in order to change how Facebook, as a digital ecosystem, operates. While Facebook is in no danger of going out of business any time soon, this amount of revenue loss will certainly get its attention.
Is this an opportunity for radio?
Recently, Ron Stone, president of Adams Radio Group, formed a new organization, Independent Broadcasters Association (IBA). While still in the formulation state, the launch of IBA should occur in the near future. I had the privilege of talking with Ron about the IBA.
An advantage we have in working with radio stations across the country is greater perspective. We see data from a wide variety of markets and formats. This affords us the opportunity to see broad trends in how listeners are consuming radio. While our sample size does not encompass every station in the country, it is large enough to make some solid observations.
Like markets that are slowly opening up and commerce that is starting to return, radio listening has started to rebound. In the major markets, which are measured by PPM methodology, radio listening quickly fell in the second half of the March survey and the entire April survey. In most markets, the majority of the drop was with away-from-home listening.
The recent May survey, which was conducted between April 23rd and May 20th, showed the first signs of radio listening returning to previous levels. While most offices, restaurants, and retail locations were still shut down during the May survey period, radio listening across just about all PPM markets experienced increases, with most of that listening occurring away from home.
