The Resilience of Radio

In an ever-changing media landscape where newspaper’s are shrinking in size and climbing in cyber readership, one medium stays tried, tested and true– radio.

Since the days of the transistor, folks have been tuning in and reporting religiously to the ol’ talk box. And according to a recent study published in Marketing Magazine, a whole lot hasn’t changed. Radio profits jumped about 5.5% in Canada last year– a far cry (laugh, rather) from Torstar’s (Canada’s largest newspaper publisher) 67% decrease in sales in 2006.

Why, in an uber-tech age, does the ancient radio reign? Here’s a few reasons:

1. Convenience. Radio ratings are highest during the early morning hours and in the late afternoon– commute time.

2. It’s effortless. The average newspaper/internet reader spends less than 10 seconds with an article before deciding whether to read or skip it. Radio attention requires less effort and more repetitive.

3. Radio is more personable.

4. Radio is free and readily available.

A recent study shows that radio is an effective advertising medium because of its recency to the point of purchase (listeners were more likely to have listened to a radio than read a newspaper or an internet ad right before making a purchase). Neat!

~ by Brandon Carlos on July 30, 2008.