WWOne Insights: Radio Adds Reach To TV Buys

Pierre Bouvard

This week’s Westwood One blog looks at how AM/FM radio adds incremental reach to TV campaigns using multiple cross-media case studies from Nielsen. 

Nielsen examined the TV and AM/FM radio campaign deliveries of a quick service restaurant, a home improvement retailer, a courier services company, a wireless provider, and a retailer. 

According to a new study by marketing effectiveness experts James Hurman and Peter Field, as the number of media channels used in a campaign increases, effectiveness grows. Adding AM/FM radio to a digital plan, a TV plan, or a digital and TV plan can have stunning impact.

• Adding AM/FM radio to the TV plan generates a +20% lift in incremental reach. While each campaign utilized varying levels of TV and AM/FM radio investment, putting AM/FM radio into the media plan consistently increases campaign reach.
• The younger the demographic, the greater the increase in incremental reach generated by AM/FM radio. Across the five categories, AM/FM radio generated an average +13% incremental lift TV reach among persons 55+ and a +26% increase in TV reach among persons 35-54. Among persons 18-49, reach grew by +33% and among persons 18-34, reach increased by +41%.
• AM/FM radio generates large reach lifts in bigger households with children. Across the five case studies, AM/FM radio drove greater reach growth with larger households with kids and teens.
• Hispanic and Asian audience reach soars with the addition of AM/FM radio. Nielsen finds putting AM/FM radio in the plan significantly lifts reach among Hispanic (+29%) and Asian (28%) audiences.
• Reach among employed consumers gets a major boost when AM/FM radio is added to the plan. A larger percentage of TV viewers are retired. Most AM/FM radio listeners are employed. That’s why AM/FM radio is known as “the soundtrack of the American worker.” If a brand target includes the workforce, AM/FM radio is the ideal addition to the media plan.
• The major source of AM/FM radio’s incremental reach are light TV viewers. Over the five studies, Nielsen found nearly two-thirds (63%) of the incremental reach generated by AM/FM radio is from light TV viewers. Across the five studies, AM/FM radio lifted reach among light TV viewers by an average of +78%.