Broadcast radio: Still not dead
While many people continue to pronounce traditional terrestrial radio dead, data keeps coming back proving that these people are dead wrong. This is from Nielsen.
Each year, there are more and more ways to listen to information and entertainment in America. Radio, on-demand streaming, podcasts, digital radio services, satellite radio…the list continues to grow. Furthermore, there is little doubt that we are in a golden age of media overall, as content is available everywhere and across all devices. Yet, according to Nielsen’s second-quarter 2017 Comparable Metrics Report, radio remains the top way to reach consumers across all media platforms.
Each week, more Americans tune into AM/FM radio (93%) than watch television, or use smartphones, tablets or computers. At the same time, streaming audio offers consumers even more ways to listen across many of those same devices.
So, to really compare apples to apples, we need to consider AM/FM radio (both over-the-air stations and their online streams) alongside all forms of streaming audio (apps and websites that stream both music and talk) and turn to comparable metrics. This allows us to go in-depth with audio use and evaluate listeners, using three basic concepts that can be applied across all media: how many, how often and how long. When viewed through these comparable measures we can see how AM/FM radio and streaming audio stack up.
