Does Anyone Listen to the AM/FM Radio Anymore?
Back in the 1950’s when television started to become a fixture in every home, the doomsday prognosticators predicted that AM/FM radio would die a fast death. Who needs radio when you now have pictures with sound? Well, the 1950’s also ushered in something called a radio on wheels (aka the automobile) and radio continued to flourish and grow audience.
Then came along the 8-track player, cassettes, and cd’s and again the prediction again was AM/FM would eventually disappear. Didn’t happen. Traditional AM/FM radio has survived and even increased listenership with the advent of talk radio.
Then came satellite radio, iTune’s, YouTube, Pandora and other online streaming services, podcasts, Alexa and the list goes on.
Is AM/FM radio finally going to die? No doubt, there is a lot more competition than ever for the ears of the listener. However, today in the year 2017, 91% of the population still listens every week to traditional AM/FM radio according to the independent tv/radio ratings company, Neilson. 91%. That’s 245 million people a week.
Why do people still listen to AM/FM radio when they have all these other choices?
Content is free, easy to access and relevant. Radio personalities have built loyal followings. And it takes a long time to change listening habits. No question, listening habits are changing amongst millennials but for the foreseeable future, traditional AM/FM radio will continue to dominate the share of listening.
As an advertising medium, radio may be the best bargain going right now. Listenership remains high but the shiny new online media is stealing the ad dollars. Advertising is priced based on supply and demand and demand for radio ads is lower and so are the prices which makes it a great time to buy.
If you are using radio now to advertise your business, my recommendation is to continue and buy more if budget allows. If you aren’t using radio to advertise your business, I highly recommend you give it try. Now is one of the best times ever to give radio a try.
Radio is great for creating top of mind awareness or direct response advertising. It’s inexpensive to produce the commercials and you can target demographics very easily by format. Personality endorsements also work well.
Bottom line is, don’t believe what you may hear that nobody listens to AM/FM radio anymore. It’s not true. I’ve got many clients right now who are using radio advertising and making money with it every day.
If you would like to see a free proposal on what it would cost to advertise on radio, please contact us.
