The ratings firm is out with its latest Nielsen Audio Consumer Sentiment survey, an ongoing study about how COVID is impacting the daily lives of Americans. The seventh study in the series was conducted in September and reflects responses from 1,022 people in the U.S.
The report shows that seven in ten working Americans now work outside the home, which is an 80% jump since April 2020.
Nielsen says that change is important for radio since consumers spend more time with radio when they travel in vehicles to get to work or shop. Overall, nearly a third (31%) are spending more than an hour in their vehicles compared with 14% in April of last year.
That’s a two-fold increase, and heavy radio listeners are far more likely to spend more time in their vehicles. According to Nielsen, in September, 55% of heavy radio listeners spent more than an hour in their vehicle yesterday.
“Americans have become remarkably resilient despite COVID and the Delta variant,” said Brad Kelly, Managing Director, Nielsen Audio. “Consumers are returning to more normal weekly activities like returning to work, getting on the road in their cars and trucks, and going out to shop, dine and entertain. As more businesses open for in person and hybrid work, more time will be spent in a vehicle on their daily commute with radio as their driving companion.”
Here are a few more radio stats Nielsen released from their study:
Radio’s average quarter-hour audience trend is up 4% year over year, with 7.5 million people age 12+ listening during an average quarter-hour in PPM Markets in September 2021.
Radio’s reach trend is stable. Radio reached 121.5 million consumers in PPM markets during an average week in September 2021.
In Continuous Diary Measurement markets, Radio’s reach and AQH audience have been remarkably stable during the past year.
