Some $4 billion in political advertising is forecasted to flow to radio and television next year and Arbitron has some ideas about how some of those funds could be targeted.
Using data from Scarborough Research, Arbitron analyzed how approximately 208,000 listeners identify themselves politically, and married that information with their favorite radio formats. Overall, 35% are Republican and 38% are Democrats based on how respondents described themselves.
“Radio reaches all voters,” said Arbitron Marketing Director Ron Rodrigues at the company’s client conference in Baltimore this week. “Candidates who need to target specific types of voters can target by format.”
Urban is heavily Democratic, with 54% Democrat and 19% Republican; Urban AC is even more so, with 61% Democrat and 15% Republican, according to the findings. Contemporary Christian is at the opposite end of the spectrum, with 29% Democrats and 45% Republicans.
Classic Hits, which plays a lot of oldies, is evenly split at 37% for both parties.
Spoken-word formats, which tend to be male-dominated, lean Republican: Newstalk is 34% Democrat, 44% Republican while Sports is 37% Democrat and 39% Republican, according to the findings.
— Leslie Stimson
