Nielsen’s most recent health report for the radio industry — State of the Media: Audio Today, is out, and it’s all good news. The stats gathered for weekly reach, audience growth and diversity all speak to the strength of the medium.
Nielsen Audio Managing Director Brad Kelly notes a particularly strong audience outside the home, particularly in the car, giving advertisers “the opportunity to deliver their message just prior to purchase.” He adds that the radio data from AM/FM streaming audio, HD Radio and NextRadio are now feeding seamlessly into the programmatic solutions and marketing environments.
First on the list is reach. Radio connects with more Americans every week than any other platform. Among all adults, radio leads with 93%. TV is a close second with 89%. A bigger gap is apparent in the critical 18–34 demographic, where radio leads with 92%, while TV has slipped to 79%. Following are the smartphone, with 83% and the PC with 50%.
The American radio audience continues to grow, according to Nielsen, although so does the population, so it is not clear if audience growth is simply at parity with population growth.
Diversity becomes more critical to advertisers, and radio makes the grade here as well. Leading are the percentages for Hispanics 12+, with 40,351,000 in 2015 and 42,444,000 today.
