You may have recently noticed some research that has been released studying radio listening habits and COVID 19’s influence on it. Nielsen, Edison, Moody’s, and others are studying how listeners have returned to listening to the radio, where they are listening, miles commuted or hours spent working at home, etc.
As you can imagine, this research is flattering to the radio story. Why would those companies release bad news? For 37 years, I have seen studies done by radio related research companies about how radio is everywhere. It’s reaching everybody all the time. The other popular narrative is that radio is on the upswing, more effective than any other medium and most efficient.
I have no doubt the research presented is accurate. I just don’t always feel it is presented in the right context by salespeople.
The radio industry is underrated as a reach medium and many other things, but I have always thought we should temper our use of such one-sided research. Imagine if you were a buyer and were getting pitched by every group in town. Everybody would be #1 somewhere, sometime, or somehow. From looking at the recent barrage of research, I do see some very useful observations though that, if nothing else, would educate us when we do talk about “how things are going” with our clients.
We should lead with the optimistic trends we see to put a client in at least a neutral mood if they tend to be negative. It is great to discuss that more people work away from home that we think. We should all know that most of the US workforce have to get to the stores, factories, hospitals, restaurants, warehouses and construction sites or they don’t get paid. It is also reasonable to assume that now more people are willing to get in their cars and go places. Those types of people have a better attitude towards doing things outside the home and would be listening to the radio in that car. So, yes, they take kids to school, shop, eat and go to events more than others.
I had not known though that younger, ethnic or females are more hesitant about getting vaccinated and the country might be lucky to see a 50% vaccination rate. That’s too bad because lots of jobs require vaccination for participating in certain activities like radio shows working together in the same studio.
At least the research out right now is beyond the 9 out of 10 Adults 18+ listen to the radio. I can see that being important if I was a client who could afford to buy ads on 15,500 radio stations. So, as many a sales manager told me, pay attention to the research that serves you best and ignore the rest!
Jeff Caves is a sales columnist for BSM working in radio and digital sales for Cumulus Media in Dallas, Texas and Boise, Idaho. He is credited with helping launch, build, and develop Sports Radio The Ticket in Boise, into the market’s top sports radio station. During his 26 year stay at KTIK, Caves hosted drive time, programmed the station, and excelled as a top seller. You can reach him by email at jeffcaves54@gmail.com or find him on LinkedIn.
