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Suzanne Grimes Speaks with Forbes About the Radio Industry
RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, August 19, 2021 |
Cumulus Media EVP of Corporate Marketing Suzanne Grimes, who is also President of Westwood One, spoke with Forbes in an effort to assess the current media landscape, asking her several questions about the radio industry. First, she spoke about the death of Rush Limbaugh earlier this year and how his replacements had been performing in maintaining his listeners.
Grimes said many of Rush's replacement shows began airing from late May to late June and that PPM data showed strong audience growth over June. The new shows have gained in audience share for the new personalities discussing current issues. "The Dan Bongino Show" on Westwood One Network is now cleared on 300 stations, and saw an 8% growth from June to July. "Travis and Sexton," the Rush replacement on a number of affiliates, also experienced growth in July.
With the emergence of new audio services such as streaming, podcasting, smart speakers, etc., Grimes told Forbes that with all the new audio platforms, it might surprise some to learn that AM/FM radio remains the dominant audio platform, with a 76% share of ad-supported audio with in-car shares hovering at 90%. "Podcasting is number two at an 11% share, showing strong growth. Pandora and Spotify have seen their combined audiences fall to a 10% share. SiriusXM's ad-supported audiences are small, at a 3% share," said Grimes.
She also noted that with the emergence of smart speakers into 40% of American homes, AM/FM radio is the number-one ad-supported audio source on smart speakers.
The publication also wanted to know about the strategies, partnerships and initiatives radio is undertaking with legalized wagering. Grimes said legalized online sports betting is a unique opportunity for the U.S. radio industry and is one of radio's fastest growing advertising categories. "A recent MARU/Matchbox study found that AM/FM radio listeners, when compared to TV viewers, have far more experience with online sports betting, greater interest, and greater engagement with online sports betting brands," she added. "We have also partnered extensively with fantasy sports betting brands such as Draft Kings, Fan Duel, BetRivers and StatHero."
Additionally, Grimes spoke about the last five years ushering in a "golden age" of radio attribution and performance measurement. "The acquisition of Arbitron by Nielsen made the introduction of ROI and sales-effect studies possible for brands and marketers. For the first time, Nielsen's credit card and grocery shopper card data can be matched to Portable People Meters to prove the impact of radio advertising. Across a large variety of categories, Nielsen found that for every dollar of radio advertising, ten dollars of incremental sales are generated."
Grimes also noted that "Hundreds of brand-effect and campaign-effect studies have been conducted for radio and podcast campaigns to prove that audio drives awareness, consideration, brand perceptions, and purchase intention. With the significant drop in linear TV reach in persons under the age of 60, AM/FM Radio can supplement TV's lost audiences and build brands."
Read the entire article here.
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