In this week’s episode of Ticker Big Media with Mediaweek, the CEO of audio group HT&E Ciaran Davis spoke with hosts Ahron Young and James Manning about recovery after the challenges of the past 12 months.
“It’s great to be able to talk about the return of the radio market from a revenue perspective and that is backed up by the fact that audiences in 2020 engaged with radio like they have never done before,” said Davis.
“The importance of the medium – the engagement it has, the connection it has with communities – is proving predictions about the demise of radio incorrect. Radio has never been stronger in terms of overall audience.
“Now the economy is coming back and confidence is there and the vaccine program is being rolled out, advertisers are starting to see the value of what radio advertising can do.
“As a business, we are leading the way in terms of transforming from being a traditional radio broadcaster to being a digital audio provider as well.”
HT&E shared ratings update with shareholders at its AGM
The market seems to like where Davis is leading HT&E. It has a similar market cap (some days higher depending on the share price) to SCA despite only broadcasting into metro markets while SCA has close to 100 stations around Australia plus an affiliation with Network 10 as its regional broadcast partner.
“We are focusing on our core business,” said Davis. “That is radio advertising. The digital audio future is here and now, but it is not as big as it will be in years to come.
“Radio is still a large part of what we do and we have had consistency of performance over the past couple of years. We have had 11 radio ratings surveys in a row where we have been #1.
“We are very strong in breakfast and we continue to focus on recruiting and retaining the best talent. We changed our commercial strategy about 18 months ago to a total audiosphere offering which is an integration of radio, podcasting, music with solid branding and we launched new digital products.
“That commercial story is resonating along with consistency of ratings – delivering a complete audio offering to the market.”
Source: CRA and Triton, Australian Podcast Ranker: March 2021 of the participating publishers. *Combines ARN/iHeartMedia with Audioboom. Adding Diamantina from March 2021
Listen to Davis also talking about how HT&E is a better business post-Covid, the company’s cash in the bank, the iHeart partnership, and what audiences and advertisers will want into the future.
Davis also talks about HT&E as an attractive media partner with a great balance sheet.
“When the right opportunity comes along, we will absolutely pursue that.”
Watch Ticker Big Media with Mediaweek on demand at Tickers News