2018 By The Numbers

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(By Bob McCurdy) With 2018 just behind us, it might be helpful to recap a few radio and media stats that likely rank among the most compelling from the past year to assist us in more effectively positioning radio within the ever-evolving media landscape.

Radio

40%: Of advertisers that use radio said it delivers “excellent” (10x times) or “extraordinary” (20+ times) ROI — BIA Managing Director, Rick Ducey.

5: The approximate number of days the average adult tunes to AM/FM radio each week — Nielsen Sept/Oct/Nov 2018, 6 market PPM average.

227 million: The number adults who tune to AM/FM radio each week — Nielsen Q2 2018 Total Audience Report.

67%: AM/FM’s share of audio listening in-car. — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+, in-car.

84%: The percentage of Americans who still listen to AM/FM in their primary car –– NPR/Edison 2018 Study.

30 minutes: The average one-way commute — U.S. Census Bureau.

90%: Of commuters commute alone — U.S. Census Bureau, 2017 American Community Study.

720 billion: AM/FM generates 720 billion more minutes of listening per month with A18+ than smart phone streaming audio, including pureplays — DMR Interactive.

91%: The percentage of A18-34’s who tune to AM/FM radio weekly — Nielsen Q2 2018 Total Audience Report.

70%: The percentage of A18-34’s who view live and time-shifted TV each week — Nielsen Q2 2018 Total Audience Report.

1:45: The average time U.S. adults spend listening daily to AM/FM (1 hour and 45 minutes). This figure remains steady in spite of increased audio competition — Nielsen Q2 2018 Total Audience Report.

44 minutes: The number of minutes the average U.S. adult spends with social networking daily. One hour less than the time they spend listening to AM/FM radio each day — Nielsen Q2 2018 Total Audience Report.

118: The full-time employed heavy radio listener index — 2018 Infinite Dial report, The Heavy Radio Listeners Report, April 2018.

115: The college graduate heavy-radio-listener index — 2018 Infinite Dial report, The Heavy Radio Listeners Report, April 2018.

47%: AM/FM’s A18+ share of time spent with all audio — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

Television

44%: The percentage of Americans who are light TV viewers — Nieslen PPM March/April 2018 A18-49.

9%: The percentage of total TV viewing these 44% light TV viewers comprise — Nieslen PPM March/April 2018 A18-49.

90%: The percentage of these light TV viewers that are reached by AM/FM radio — Nieslen PPM March/April 2018 A18-49.

10%: 44% of all A25-54’s view only 10% of all A25-54 viewed TV commercials, with radio reaching 92% of these light viewers — Nieslen PPM March/April 2018 A18-49.

-10%: Viewers under 50 who are no longer watching network TV — The New York Times.

1,000,000+: The number of TV cord-cutters in the last quarter — The Wall Street Journal.

Pandora/Spotify

2%: Ad-supported Spotify’s share of all adult audio listening — Edison Research, Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

4%: Ad-supported Pandora’s share of all adult audio listening — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

12x: AM/FM listening is 12x larger than ad-supported Pandora — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

23x: AM/FM listening is 23x larger than ad-supported Spotify — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

72%: AM/FM radio’s daily adult reach — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q2 2016 – Q3 2018; Persons 18+.

10%: The percentage of U.S. adults who tune to ad-supported Pandora daily — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

7x: AM/FM’s daily reach is 7x as large as the daily reach of ad-supported Pandora — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

18X: AM/FM’s daily reach is 18x as large as the daily reach of ad-supported Spotify — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

4% & 71%: 4% of Americans account for 71% of all Pandora listening- Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

4% & 76%: 4% of Americans account for 76% of all Spotify listening — Edison Research, “Share of Ear,” Q4 2017, Q1-Q3 2018. Persons 18+.

Podcasts/Smart Speakers

73 million: The number of Americans 12+ listened to a podcast in the past month — Infinite Dial 2018.

7: The average number of podcasts listened to in the past week — Infinite Dial 2018.

76%: Take action when they hear podcast ads — The Acast Audio Intelligence Report.

71%: Percent of podcast listeners indicating high levels of concentration when listening — IAB Research using Maru/Matchbox’s Springboard America Online Panel, A18+ January 2018.

1.5x: Podcast’s concentration advantage over paid social media — IAB Research using Maru/Matchbox’s Springboard America Online Panel, A18+ January 2018.

51 million: Approximate number of smart speakers in U.S. households — Infinite Dial 2018.

2x: Smart speaker ownership doubled in the past year — Jacobs Tech Survey 2018.

SiriusXM

4%: The percentage of Americans who are reached each day by SiriusXM’s ad-supported channels — Edison Research, Share of Ear, Q2-Q4 2017, Q1 2018 A18+.

96%: The percentage of Americans not reached by SiriusXM’s ad-supported channels each day — Edison Research, Share of Ear, Q2-Q4 2017, Q1 2018 A18+.

18x: The advantage AM/FM enjoys in daily reach over SiriusXM’s ad-supported channels — Edison Research, Share of Ear, Q2-Q4 2017, Q1 2018 A18+.

15%: The percent of U.S. adults who listen to satellite radio each week — Nielsen Q2 2018 Total Audience Report.

Marketing

5 million: The number of Snapchat users no longer using it in 2018.

26%: A study of over 1,000 marketers by Rakuten Marketing found that they will waste 26% of the marketing budget in 2018 on the wrong channels or strategies.

150%-900%: The percentage that Crowd Siren alleges Facebook inflated their paid video metrics, not the 60%-80% originally thought.

It’s understood that statistics alone typically don’t change minds, but there might be a stat or two above that will assist in weaving a more effective radio story in 2019!

Bob McCurdy is The Vice President of Sales for The Beasley Media Group and can be reached at [email protected]

2 COMMENTS

  1. Given all this wonderful, once again, Bob-supplied data, drastic and/or significant improvements in spoken-word services, both on-air and in commercial production, could only generate what?
    How about greater listening numbers and even better ROI.
    Anybody up for any of that?

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