Study of NYC commuters points to radio’s (and online radio’s) opportunity

NYMRAD study titleWe learned from Tom Taylor’s NOW newsletter of  a new report from New York Market Radio (NYMRAD), examining statistics around New York City commuters. The State of the Market is a free brief of radio’s and online radio’s opportunity to reach auto commuters.

The key statistic in NYMRAD’s brief report holds that over a million people are trapped in their cars twice a day, getting to and from their jobs. “Radio must be part of any media plan targeting the New York region,” the report says.

Citing labor statistics, New York City is portrayed as a bull market for employment. “New Yorkers have money to spend.” Accordingly, about 200 brands bought New York-targeted advertising in the first half of 2015,with an average spend above $100,000. Food, education, and health were growth sectors during that period. There was a rise in auto advertising, and NYMRAD’s paper itemizes the details of that.

When it comes to Internet radio, NYMRAD refers to studies from Edison Research, comScore, XAPPmedia, and others. “Most of the growth in Internet radio and streaming services is due to mobile devices,” the paper notes. “When it comes to using mobile devices, more time is spent on the radio than any other activity.” That last fact comes from comScore’s Global Mobile Report.

Age-group trends are notes: Young people adopt Internet radio quicker than older groups. Over three-quarters of the 12-24 cohort listen to online radio.

“Internet radio provides huge opportunities for advertisers,” according to NYMRAD. The authors report that most users prefer free-of-charge, ad-supported online radio listening, which jives with Pandora’s numbers: Fewer than 4-million of Pandora’s roughly 79-million monthly listeners pay five dollars a month to ditch the commercials. Of course, those 75-million listeners receive a much lighter ad load than they do when tuned to commercial AM/FM stations.

 

 

Brad Hill