Do Listeners Know Your Station Has An App?

Leigh Jacobs from NuVooDoo starts the week sharing more results from NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study 24, with responses from over three thousand 14 to 64s nationwide, show that many listeners say they would listen more to content from radio stations on a smartphone app – suggesting those same listeners are not universally aware of station apps. 

As shown in the chart below, it’s better than 2 in 5 across the entire sample – and over half among Gen Z, Millennials, and heavy users of radio (those listening at least an hour a day). That has the potential to represent a lot of quarter hours lost.

It’s not surprising that the number saying they’d listen more using an app narrows sharply among Gen X (now ages 44-59) and the five trailing years of Baby Boomers included in our sample, but the bigger numbers among the younger generations should get our attention. If you need more data to convince you that this is a serious shortfall, in the chart below we have the full sample data in blue and the 15% subset of the sample who profile as those most likely to participate in the ratings in olive green (labeled “RPS Ratings Likelies”). Among Gen Z and Millennials, better than two thirds say they’d listen more using an app – and it’s close to half among the older breakout in the sample.

Not all format constituencies are the same – nor are the ratings-likely subgroups of those constituencies consistent. Among core listeners for Alternative and Rock format stations (labeled “Alt + Rock” in the chart below), it’s 51% and a slightly smaller percentage among the ratings-likely subgroup. Conversely, it’s 32% among Classic Rock core listeners, but almost double that among the subgroup likely to show up as ratings participants. And we see a similar story among core listeners to Classic Hits and Adult Hits (labeled “Classic + Adult Hits” below).

The numbers are notably smaller among Country core listeners – but they’re not zero. If you’re managing a Country format, can you afford to leave any potential quarter hours on the table?

In an era when it’s difficult to buy a radio (unless it’s pre-installed in a new vehicle) it’s important that the experience of listening to your station(s) is as frictionless as possible. That means your app, and especially the great benefits of having it, should get frequent mention on air, prime placement in all online assets, and great exposure in your social media feeds. Too often we hear stations throw away mentions of their app on the air without any mention of the benefits enjoyed by listeners who have installed the app. And, as shown here, being able to listen to the station is no small benefit.