Pat Welsh takes a look at the results of Arbitron & Edison Research’s latest “Infinite Dial” report, and gives his own analysis of the report’s findings. Welsh highlights the “good news” that radio can take away from the report and also takes note of the results that radio should focus on.
Pat Welsh
By Pat Welsh
Arbitron and Edison Research just released the latest version of their Infinite Dial series. Each spring, these two research giants release an updated study on the state of radio and digital media. As always, I’m fascinated to see which technologies have reached critical mass, which ones are headed that way, and which might be past their primes. Here are some of the highlights of the study and some suggestions on what we can do with the information.
The Good News
There’s a lot for radio to celebrate. Terrestrial radio, the world’s last analog entertainment medium, is still relevant to most Americans. But it’s inevitable that other platforms are encroaching on our territory, just as they have with other media. TV has suffered overall viewing declines, the music industry has been permanently transformed, and print media have been decimated in both revenue and usage. Through it all, radio still reaches more than 92% of the 12+ population each week. And despite erosion to TSL, AMFM radio still leads in these key areas:
- In-car Listening – Any other platform coming close here would be an upset since the competition has barely started. Outside of satellite radio, digital competitors are just becoming technologically viable in cars, as more car companies add online access through the dashboard. As it is, 21% of smartphone owners (who make up more than half of Americans) have already listened to online radio through their car stereos.
- Music Discovery – I’m amused by the number of people in parts of the music community express amazement each time they read another study showing terrestrial radio in the top spot. But the one danger sign for us is that, among 12-24’s, the most new music-centric demographic, terrestrial radio ranks 3rd. That’s more evidence of a loose connection with the youngest demo, which also listens less than any other group.
- Most Recent Media Used Before Shopping – Mobile phones may have replaced radio as the consumer’s most intimate media device, but radio still has powerful connections. Radio is the last media that most people use before going shopping, giving radio great influence when it comes to making buying decisions. Radio advertising helps to persuade buyers, while mobile devices are used to inform and affirm their decisions.
Ancillary Technologies
- Clock radios have lost their place – After decades of domination by the clock radio, the mobile phone is now the wake-up device of choice for 18-34s, and it’s not far behind in many other demos.
- Podcasting growth is slow – This year’s study defined podcasting differently, which led to a decrease in its usage. This gets at one of the biggest challenges for podcasting: Many people don’t know what the word means. I encourage clients to use the term “downloading,” not “podcasting” since many people think podcasting requires specific equipment, such as an iPod or iPhone. Many don’t know that podcasting is a generic term meant for on-demand or time-shifted audio programming.
- HD Radio – HD Radio, despite is superior audio and additional channels is not gaining traction. HD Radio has fallen so far down the awareness scale that this major technology study barely even touches on it.
- FM on Mobile Phones – Despite Sprint’s decision to activate FM on mobile phones, there doesn’t seem to be much momentum for it. It seems unlikely that the FCC will mandate FM in cell phones and no other carrier seems likely to mimic Sprint. Perhaps the industry will be able to come up with more creative incentives to influence the others.
Where Radio Should Focus
- Increased bonding with listeners via Facebook – Facebook’s influence is poised to become stronger as Facebook Home is about to launch on – and take over – many Android phones. Effective Facebook strategies involve more than just accumulating Likes. In fact, separate studies about Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers showed that engagement with brands doesn’t correlate well with the number of Likes or Followers. As with the on-air product, engagement with P-1s and converting casual users to P-1 users are what count the most.
Facebook can be used as a broadcast medium (promoting your station events, features and contests) but that’s not enough. You and your staff need to be looking for opportunities to connect with listeners on Facebook. One of my clients stumbled into a great Facebook conversation as the morning team was getting ready for a TV commercial shoot. Members of the show solicited opinions on Facebook about what they should wear, and then followed up by posting the spot ahead of time on Facebook.
- Twitter is big, but it’s not Facebook – Facebook and Twitter are often mentioned in the same sentence, but they’re fundamentally different. Twitter is growing, but it’s much more important, at this point, for younger listeners than older ones. Twitter’s quick burst format seems to make it ideal for blasting out station updates and news, but you can also engage directly with listeners on Twitter. Another aspect of Twitter that gets less attention is the value in following musicians and celebrities. At this point, at least, Twitter remains one of the last bastions of unfiltered comments by celebrities, making tweets a great place to come up with content.
- Going all-in on texting – We still do too much contesting on the phone and not enough with texting. Since the ‘90s, I’ve had to bite my tongue every time I started to refer to phone contests when talking to my overseas clients. With rare exceptions, contests are done via texting elsewhere in the world. Aside from contests that requires audience interaction (morning show bits, etc.) texting is superior. More people can participate, everyone who tries can “get through” and it doesn’t tie up the on-air talent the way that taking calls does.
- Optimizing for Mobile – At this point, most stations are available on at least one mobile app. And some of the biggest companies, such as Clear Channel with its iheartradio app, are trying to put radio listening under a single brand. But few companies are taking the next logical step and developing tablet-specific apps. According to The Infinite Dial 2013, 29% of Americans now own a tablet, a 70% increase in just one year. Besides creating tablet-specific apps, which can take advantage of larger mobile screens, many companies have been slow to develop tablet-optimized web pages to make it easier for tablet users to browse the web.
A lot of these things are out of the control of the Program Director. Most decisions on what technology and which vendors will be used have been dictated from above. And, increasingly, decisions on how (or at least how much of these) specific technologies will be used are being made by corporate. But there are ways to still use these things to build engagement, interaction and loyalty.
Pat Welsh, Senior Vice President/Digital Content, Pollack Media Group, can be reached at 310 459-8556, fax: 310-454-5046, or at pat@pollackmedia.com.
