Nielsen: Listeners Coming Back as Restrictions Lift

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Nielsen says the April 2021 PPM survey revealed new gains in radio listening across the aggregate of markets for the second month in a row. The ratings firm says that as the country continues to reopen, consumers are returning to radio in numbers not seen in over half a year.

More from the latest Nielsen report:
– Radio’s weekly reach is now at its highest levels (121 million weekly consumers) since March 2020 when COVID-19’s impact began to take hold. Since the beginning of 2021, radio has added more than 5 million new weekly listeners.
– Radio’s Average Quarter-Hour (AQH) audience in April 2021 hit its highest levels since the fourth quarter of 2020, prior to this winter’s virus surges and associated restrictions. What’s more, AQH audience levels have jumped 10 percent in the past two months as vaccinations and a gradual return to pre-pandemic routines have proliferated.
– The year-over-year comparison between the April 2020 and April 2021 PPM stands at a 114 index for weekly reach and a 131 index for AQH. This means that from a weekly reach perspective, the radio audience in April 2021 is 14% larger than the same month from one year ago, while for AQH the audience is now 31% larger.
– The April listening gains were spread across the day, with all major dayparts at or near their AQH peaks since COVID-19 began. Both morning drive (Mon-Fri 6a-10a) and weekends (Sat-Sun 6a-12m) hit their highest audience levels since the fall.

1 COMMENT

  1. I drove through some of those PPM markets back in April and flipped through the dial… Most stations were cranking those tones exceptionally louder than usual.. Most of those stations sounded like someone was trying to saw a big Chinese gong in half with a mitre saw in the background.

    Someone’s clock radio likely triggered every PPM meters within 10 blocks!

    That PPM system is the WORST!

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