The radio industry is rolling out new in-car measurement of audio content consumption, and the Radio Advertising Bureau is giddy about it. Why? This “will dramatically change how broadcasters prove value to advertisers,” the organization insists.
To illustrate its point, the RAB will host on December 12 a live webinar featuring Xperi Corp. Senior Director of Broadcast Strategy & Business Development Juan Galdamez introduce what are being described as “first-of-its-kind, in-car audience ratings” captured daily from more than 6 million vehicles via the company’s DTS AutoStage broadcaster portal.
For Rich Tunkel and his co-workers at Nielsen Audio, the news could send their team into overdrive on how the PPM and diary-based methodology in small U.S. markets still delivers for its radio station clients.
Yet, with data available in 250 markets “regardless of how those markets are currently measured,” the RAB has all but endorsed Xperi’s data. “[T]his new system represents a major leap in proving radio’s real-time, in-vehicle performance with metrics advertisers already understand and trust,” it says.
Virtually all in-car AM/FM listening is over-the-air through the dashboard, the RAB points out, “putting broadcast radio squarely in the driver’s seat.”
Among the key takeaways on in-car listening, shared by the RAB:
- 80% of U.S. consumers are reached daily by in-vehicle AM/FM radio (MRI Simmons)
- 50% of all 25–54 AM/FM listening happens in the car (Edison Share of Ear)
- AM/FM owns 85% of ad-supported audio time in vehicles (Edison Share of Ear)
