People Listen To Radio In Their Cars
Coronavirus has changed a lot about the world. Especially when it comes to radio station audiences.
It might sound obvious at first, but a huge chunk of radio station audiences are based entirely on people who drive. People in their cars listen to the radio.
And you don’t have to take my word for it. According to Edison Research, a whopping 52% of American drivers listen to the radio when they are in their cars.
Most radio station owners probably didn’t even realize this. But in 2020, the universe finally decided to show how closely correlated radio is with traveling.
COVID Stopped Travellers
Almost as soon as Coronavirus hit, an effect could be found. Research now shows that radio station audiences took a sudden dip in listenership as soon as people started social distancing.
This is because less people traveled than ever before in our country. This lack of traveling caused people to listen to their radios less and this severely limited radio station audiences.
However, it’s important to note that radio stations that had systems in place for online radio streaming were impacted far less. According to our analysis, radio streaming stayed somewhat steady during this time.
A Surge Is Coming
All of this might sound like doom and gloom if you own a radio station. But don’t worry. The end of strict social distancing has allowed people to creep out of their isolation. And now radio is expected to see big boosts in listenership again.
According to Marketing Charts, new studies show that radio stations are about to see a 6.6% increase in radio ad revenue:
“The coming year shows predicted 6.6% y-o-y growth in radio ad revenue, to $12.8 billion. When taking into account political advertising, radio ad revenue is set to grow by 6% to just top $13 billion.”
Either way, this is great news if you own a radio station. Get ready. Some growth is definitely headed your way.
