How ARN now reaches more than 8m consumers in every state and territory

by Mediaweek

Posted on 21 March 2022

Company now boasts 135 stations – metro, former Grant regional stations and iHeartRadio brands

ARN, which has ranked itself #1 metro broadcaster for the past 18 consecutive radio surveys across three years, is now detailing a massive reach Australia-wide.

The broadcaster has calculated it can offer advertisers access to 135 stations in 71 separate markets across the country.

In January this year, ARN completed their acquisition of Grant Broadcasters, the largest regional radio operator in the country.

Ciaran Davis, ARN’s CEO, said: “We knew we had bought a great regional radio business, so our priority has been to ensure that these operations continued to run smoothly. Our focus has been on team alignment and creating opportunities for our commercial partners that deliver national scale in a meaningful way.”

HT&E and ARN’s Ciaran Davis

To keep the flavour of the new stations added to the portfolio, the company is producing breakfast content from 100 breakfast teams across the country.

Davis added: “We’ve heard from some major media buyers that regional radio has often been a ‘tick box’ exercise for advertisers, but we believe it plays a vital role in connecting with the communities it serves, and we want to give advertisers the benefit of unlocking that connection.

“The untapped potential of regional radio is significant, justified by the sheer volume of people that it reaches. We look forward to being a part of what we think is an important shift in ad spend for companies small and large alike.”

Part of ARN’s national growth has been the expansion of iHeartRadio. All stations are now available on the digital audio platform, allowing regional audiences to listen to their favourite local shows wherever they are and on the device of their choosing.

On the impact of the network extension, Davis said: “We have already seen rapid uptake of the iHeartRadio app by regional audiences while listening on site has exponentially grown. It’s our job now to retain those audiences and grow their audio consumption with the plethora of content we deliver through the platform. We’re extremely happy with the early results, as it means we can immediately offer advertisers the benefits of broadcast and digital reach together.”