Report: Westwood One Says Radio Can Improve NFL Reach

NFL television ratings were down 10% four weeks into the new season, and Westwood One is using the opportunity to blitz advertisers with a message: Adding radio can strengthen your gridiron media mix. Using Nielsen data, Pierre Bouvard in the Westwood One blog shows that an ad campaign on the national NFL radio broadcast can amplify frequency among light TV viewers.

Pierre Bouvard

The NFL is big business. PricewatershouseCoopers forecasts media sports rights will reach $19.9 billion by 2018, larger than revenue from sponsorships ($17.5 billion) and live gate revenue ($19.8 billion).

Wall Street analyst MoffettNathanson explains: “Sports programming is the glue of the media world and there has been no stickier product than the NFL.”

MoffettNathanson reports the NFL represents 19% of Persons 18-49 GRPs across CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN. The firm estimates the NFL’s share of total network ad revenue to be a quarter to half of the four major networks that carry the NFL.

The addition of Westwood One NFL increases frequency among light NFL Network TV viewers by 20%, according to a new case study.

The frequency also went up when radio was added to the mix for other TV networks that air NFL games. Frequency to the brand schedule grew 11% among light NFL viewers on ESPN and increased 8% among light NFL viewers on Fox. “Light TV viewers represent people who watch about 12 hours of TV weekly,” Cumulus Media and Westwood One chief insights officer Pierre Bouvard explains. “They tend to be the most desirable group for advertisers because they are younger, affluent and more employed than the overall TV audience.”

Westwood One increases campaign frequency by 8% among light NFL viewers on Fox. Frequency to the brand schedule grew 11% among light NFL viewers on ESPN.