Live Metrics: Radio Strategy in the Age of the Internet

“Radio and Peace”. The slogan chosen by UNESCO this year to celebrate World Radio Day affirms the most trusted medium in difficult times, but aims for a radical change based on new habits and an audience that, along with the Internet, is looking for reliable media and moving with the speed of their needs and in the event of a possible disconnection from the network to be the voice of society.

In his proposed list for celebrating World Radio Day, he adds the point where the Internet and this audio medium converge: “to energize the audience.” It has been widely demonstrated that a large number of wake up users pick up the phone as the first activity of the day after waking up. “Provide balanced information, fair representation of members of society and solutions: identify not only shortcomings, but also effective measures,” suggests UNESCO as part of early access to up-to-date information.

New products, new habits, new audience

The trend of natural communication between radio and the Internet has created huge opportunities for the distribution of content based on the habits of the audience, whether it be analogue or digital content. Today, millions of smart speakers powered by Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant are capable of transmitting radio signals over the Internet at home. In the United States alone, 100 million people own “smart speakers” that allow them to access live broadcasts, hourly news briefings and podcasts.

Along with this technological offering, users have had access to digital content for many years, anticipating a technological trend to replace low frequency signals with broader Internet connectivity. Given the offer, the audience was able to find personalized offers on streaming and podcasting apps that match their information needs, their time to use it, and their thematic preferences.

Music lists for consumption

This is one of the most noticeable trends in the digital radio segment. Faced with a plethora of streaming offers, radio stations have realized that many users are turning to thematic and genre lists to retain an audience that doesn’t want to take the time to set their own preferences. This idea of ​​”getting into music” still lives in the minds of many people, and the endless lists of topics offered by the radios are ideally suited to the preferences of specific target groups.

This proves to be a distinct advantage over services like Spotify or TIDAL, which use metrics to organize content. Music curation is a job that radio has developed over the years, and this experience accumulated by music station programmers allows for the creation of not only highly engaging playlists, but also those that are strategically designed around the direction of the radio station.

Influence of “Live News”

Unlike television, which still cannot find effective ways to fit into the app grid on the phone, radio has been able to facilitate access to the “live signal” of smartphones, which, by their design and equipment, do not have an active chip to receive. station signals. In the face of events such as presidential speeches, acts of violence, sporting events or special reports, radio websites increase their traffic exponentially through online alerts and signaling.

This “information alert” is basically a call to action for a digital audience and an advantage given the inability to access video from a phone, both due to the poor digital supply locally and the radical difference in mobile data consumption. video speed compared to audio. In these types of opportunities, a promotional video and links to web notes in development are complementary to the overall strategy.

Fewer new podcasts, but more mature podcasts.

According to reports from Inside Radio, podcast consumption figures have changed. International markets are seeing a decline in listenership in 2022 compared to 2021, although it continues to exceed the 2020 record and the consolidation of a healthy audience curve.

In addition, the Semafor newsletter showed a consistent drop in new podcast creation from the first two years of the pandemic and the home studio “boom”, from one million new podcasts in 2020 to over 200,000 new ones. in 2022.

However, there are very interesting indicators of habit change following this volatile process that led to the global presence of COID-19. For starters, phone usage for podcast consumption has risen from 64% to 73% in one year, while home and PC audiences have dropped as commercial and educational activities resume.

On the other hand, podcast products that have exceeded the time threshold for monetization—two to three years, according to ImprovePodcast—are strengthened by the community built around each product and publishing consistency. Obviously, not all projects have been able to survive, but this also provides a more mature and stable market for audiences and investments.

Big streaming and rating data

Unlike traditional ratings, digital audio measurements provide a better understanding of audience habits and preferences. The distinct advantage of today’s broadcasters is that they receive valuable data at the digital level, which complements the closest understanding from the rating by points.

This fusion of metrics will provide a more holistic view of the audience and their audio habits. With this valuable information, filtered effectively by media analysts, it will provide more consolidated forecasts and reports that allow content to be tailored to what the audience wants in all terms: social media presence, content, programmatic advertising, interactive products. more.

Radio has not only been able to adapt to change faster than other traditional media. He did it with all his innate and untouched qualities: reliability, immediacy, gullibility, the ability to captivate millions of people, emotionality. After the numbers, the human part brings peace to those who seek content. And there is nothing more human than radio.