April 28, 2021
A big reason, according to Westwood One’s Pierre Bouvard, is the fragmentation and decline in Television viewership. According to Bouvard the TV landscape is undergoing massive change and that all works to radio’s advantage.
In his latest column Bouvard put together a list of bullet-points easily explainable to advertisers. They include these facts:
That one out of four people in the 25-54 demo can no longer be reached by linear TV.
That pay TV lost 5.5 million subscribers in 2020
That broadcast TV’s reach is down about 22%
Bouvard says if advertisers put radio in their advertising plan it generates triple the reach of connected TV. “Adding 50 points of AM/FM radio to 250 points of TV (225 linear TV GRPs and 50 connected TV GRPs) generates a +24% increase in reach, triple the incremental reach lift that connected TV can add alone. The average P&G brand experiences a +38% increase in reach due to AM/FM radio campaigns.
And radio continues to use P&G as a great example of what adding radio to an ad campaign can do for an advertiser. Bouvard pointed out that At a radio conference a few years ago, P&G Executive John Fix said: “P&G wants to reach as much of America as it can, once a week … While TV has been its media cornerstone, it’s a costly investment to use television to reach 72% of the U.S.” He continued, “The brands are looking to get the reach they want and they can’t get it with TV. Knowing that, radio seemed to be an option.”
And Bouvard follows up. “P&G’s December 2020 radio campaigns lifted TV reach by +33% among persons 45-54, +57% among persons 35-44, and +101% among persons 25-34. Hundreds of NMI reports for dozens of brands and categories all reveal the same findings. AM/FM radio can supplement the older skew of linear TV with significant reach lift under the age of 60.”
Read Bouvard’s latest column HERE.
Uh got some news people – TV AND RADIO are losing audience. Downward trends since the 90s. Who needs broadcasting when one doesn’t need it?
I’m not sure what delusional world this guy is living in? Advertisers need radio? I think not.
Cumes have been decreasing for years. That is fact. The audience is getting smaller and smaller. Young people don’t give a hoot about local radio. They have option upon option to choose from now. Those younger people are going to grow up and say in 10 years “what’s radio?”
Throw in you can now advertise on many different mediums for A LOT less than your average ROS price point.
This kind of bad thinking is what’s gonna finally put the nail in the radio coffin.
Now I know what your thinking. I need local. Well, there are many new ways to get local. Not just radio. Throw in bad programming , repeated can con (like you need to hear Your daddy don’t know again by Toronto) on-air hosts who have no creativity or rely on callers to make their shows sound interesting and you lose people. Face it, it’s a bad situation. But keep believing advertisers need radio. As I drove home from work tonight? A two and a half minute stopset, all promos. Not one paid spot. Yikes! Who needs who again?
Radio is in a bad state of affairs.
What did you expect a guy in his position to say. Duh. Always look deeper into the source before you believe any numbers. Ask: what is their real agenda. For those who care, this guy’s fighting to keep his job, and his job is ‘sales’ so let’s spin the numbers as best we can.