Blog

Radio in the Time of COVID

By Andy Beaubien, BPR

Here are some interesting statistics about US radio during the Covid era.  This compilation is courtesy of Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer at CUMULUS MEDIA at Westwood One. The statistics were based on studies from a diverse range of sources ranging from Nielsen to the US Federal Reserve.

• AM/FM radio has retained 95% of its persons 18+ reach and 100% of its reach among those with a $75K+ income.
• Per the U.S. Federal Reserve, 60% of U.S. workers are commuting every day. Only 24% of workers are working from home every day.
• 88% of Americans are reached by AM/FM radio weekly.
• The audience share of AM/FM radio is twenty-one times larger than Spotify and ten times larger than Pandora.
• AM/FM radio is by far the most commonly used ad-supported audio in the car.
• Adding AM/FM radio to the media plan generates a +41% increase in reach with the same spend.
• 61% of listening occurs outside of drive times. Middays and weekends are far stronger than advertisers perceive.

Does this mean that all is well with broadcast radio? Of course not. However, it does contradict the assumption that broadcast radio consumption has collapsed during the Covid crisis. As the world moves beyond Covid, we can expect that radio, in spite of increased competition, will continue to be a powerful force in the audio media world.