When outdoor advertising inventory runs dry, can radio fill the gap? New analysis from Cumulus Media and Westwood One’s Audio Active Group makes a data-driven case that it can, reaching the same audiences at the same locations with a screen to match.
The audience case starts with mobility. MRI-Simmons data shows the heaviest traditional radio listeners index at 123 against the US average for adults traveling 250 or more miles weekly by car or truck, compared with an index of 80 among light listeners. The heaviest outdoor advertising audience indexes at 123 on AM/FM consumption versus 71 on television.
Heavy radio listeners and heavy outdoor viewers share a median age of 45 and 47, respectively, with nearly identical household profiles.
The location piece is handled by Xperi’s DTS AutoStage, which pulls over-the-air radio listening data from six million connected cars across more than 300 local markets and visualizes that listening by location the following day. When one major advertiser found their desired highway billboard inventory sold out, the heatmap confirmed AM/FM was already reaching consumers at those exact locations, as well as across the broader market beyond any fixed point.
The visual replacement comes via Quu, whose in-dash display units sync to AM/FM radio spots or run as standalone visuals on vehicle dashboards. A May 2025 Advertiser Perceptions survey found 70% of advertisers and agencies are already aware of Quu’s in-car display ads, and respondents said they would pay 17% more for AM/FM spots paired with in-dash visual units.
That in-dash format produces measurable brand lift. A Quantilope study across 75 markets found that among heavy radio listeners exposed to visual in-car radio ads via Quu, purchase intent rose 89% versus light listeners who were not exposed. Brand usage lifted 64%, purchase consideration 56%, brand favorability 58%, and brand familiarity 50%.
The cross-channel case extends to digital performance. A 2023 geo experiment by Goboony across a UK audience of 401,000 found Meta ad click-through rates rose 29% after four weeks of concurrent AM/FM radio advertising, climbing to 86% when two weeks of out-of-home advertising was added to the mix.
