Multicultural marketers and the owners of such companies as Urban One and Univision Radio will hardly be surprised with the just-released findings from Nielsen Audio, which says “the national radio audience continues to diversity.”
Do CMOs seeking Latinos, Asians and Blacks care enough to increase the sliver of ad dollars going to AM, FM and their digital components?
Nielsen’s latest Audio Today report, which focuses on blacks and Hispanics, seeks to further serve as an attention-getter for an industry continuously struggling to show just how many consumers it has.
In the U.S., radio reaches more Americans each week than any other platform,” Nielsen asserts.
And, this pattern holds true among black and Hispanic consumers.
“As our population continues to grow, we see that more and more listeners are tuning in each week,” Nielsen says.
Here’s a key takeaway for CMOs seeking to build sales with multicultural consumers:
Nearly 75 million weekly radio listeners are black and Hispanic, a third of the total national audience.
“In fact, black and Hispanic Americans spend more time with radio each week than any other ethnic group, with more than 30 million black Americans and 42 million Hispanics turning to radio each week,” Nielsen points out.
Furthermore, there is a strong growth trend for radio consumption among blacks and Hispanics.
What’s perhaps most eye-opening is radio’s reach among black and Hispanic consumers, compared to other media.
Nielsen’s latest Ethnic Audio Today profiles that diverse audience and also reveals that the number of black and Hispanic consumers using their smartphones to stream audio increased by a third during the last year.
RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: Nielsen Audio has just released a report that contains some great insight into who is listening to the radio, and how AM and FM stations still attract large audiences — despite what a guy named Larry Miller at NYU might think. “No one listens to the radio anymore” is as idiotic a statement as saying “no one buys a Big Mac anymore.” By the way, McDonald’s is a major advertiser on AM and FM stations targeting Hispanic and/or black consumers. The timing of this report comes as the radio industry’s cognoscenti descends on Texas’ state capital, Austin, for its annual feel-good fest and alcohol-fueled pat on the back. It was sent Monday via embargo to all of the radio trades. That’s nice. We hope it was sent to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, and Advertising Age. Do all ANA and 4A’s members have a copy? What about the ahaa members? That’s the audience this valuable data needs to go to. If not, Nielsen is once again preaching to the choir. We know radio works. But, we forgot to engage in continued efforts to remind marketers, media buyers, media planners and all of those millennials on Madison Avenue that it works. This can help a whole lot better than a “hey, great report!” toast at an industry confab few advertisers even attend.
