According to chair of CRA and CEO of ARN Media, Ciaran Davis, there has never been a better time to invest in radio.
The national industry body for commercial broadcasting, Commercial Radio and Audio (CRA), has released new insights a year after Radio 360 transformed radio audience measurement in Australia.
“Our audiences keep growing to new record highs and we are delivering world-leading innovation when it comes to radio measurement,” said Davis.
“We know that if brands invest just 11% of their campaign budgets in radio they can double their effectiveness – and Radio 360 now gives media planners the insights they need to have that impact.”
Radio 360 was developed by market research company GfK in response to the evolution of audio consumption, with the aim of providing a holistic picture of listeners for agencies and advertisers.
The hybrid measuring system for its metropolitan radio surveys was introduced to the market on Tuesday 6 June 2023, with the release of Radio Ratings Survey Three.
GfK media masurement director, Deb Hishon, explained how its MediaWatch technology offered new insights into audience habits, outside of the traditional survey periods.
She gave the example: “We used MediaWatch data to measure Summer listening and found that 91.1% of daily listeners continued to listen between 3 December 2023 and 28 January 2023, but at a slightly later time of day.
“The insights that wearable data provides were not available under the previous methodology, and it is fantastic that we can use these to further highlight the value of radio.”
The MediaWatch data revealed a 40% spike in radio listeners during the Bondi Westfield attack on 13 April, as the community turned to radio for updates.
“Radio 360 was the first hybrid audience measurement system in the world when we launched it 360 days ago,” added CRA’s chief commercial officer, Jo Dick.
“Now, through the combination of surveys, log files, and the MediaWatch wearable technology, advertisers have a more complete picture of listeners – who they are, when they are listening, and if it’s via broadcast or streaming.”
Media Federation of Australia CEO, Sophie Madden, said the system “provides a more holistic view of the volume of digital listening and therefore helps agencies make more informed decisions in spending marketing dollars.”
“In a fast-moving media landscape, constant improvements to how we measure and report are essential and we look forward to continuing to work with CRA on ongoing methodology enhancements,” she said.
CRA is currently hunting for a new CEO following the sudden exit of Ford Ennals.
See also: “The future of Streaming is talk”: Nine Radio boss on the impact of Radio 360