The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has significantly increased the number of COVID-19 PSA’s and paid ads it’s running on radio. When comparing the date ranges of February 1st-29th to March 1st-18th, radio ads in Seattle, one of the first cities to be directly affected by the pandemic, rose by 15 times the amount.
New York City also experienced a 33% increase in CDC radio spots. In L.A. saw a spot increase of nearly 11 times.
Other cities impacted by the outbreak, such as Houston and San Francisco, experienced a huge spike in radio spots and ad revenue.
Public outreach through radio has been one of the main forms of media that the CDC has used in an effort to broadcast more information about the COVID-19 pandemic
The ‘one-to-many’ technology and strength of broadcast radio has always been its critical value during times of national or local emergencies or other urgent situations, such as Amber Alerts.
Once again, radio comes through to help ‘save the day’. We should be very proud of the industry and career we have chosen to work in, with its undeniable value to society.