Insights: Radio Turns To the Virtual Remote

Before the pandemic, remote broadcasts and appearances were staples of the AM/FM radio industry. This week’s Westwood One blog looks at how social distancing measures and shelter-in-place mandates have paused this type of station remote but offers solutions for how a virtual event could deliver similar results. 

• The media plan for a station event is the engine of impact: An example weekly campaign has twenty ads, twenty promos, and eight live reports. They promote the station’s presence at the store, give listeners the important details, and, most importantly for advertisers, give consumers the necessary call to action.
• The media plan: Average remote broadcast schedules have massive audience reach and generate significant frequency: According to Nielsen, a typical AM/FM radio buy of twelve weekly commercials reaches 43% of a stations’ 25-54 audience an average of 1.7 times. The average remote broadcast schedule includes significantly more ads, promos, and live reports – forty-eight announcements in all. It generates a massive reach of 76% of a station’s audience with exposure to the campaign an average of 4.1 times.
• AM/FM radio stations can create a virtual remote using a strategic media schedule and messaging: For example, a virtual remote, supported by a 48+ spot buy in the week leading up to it, can drive consumers to a website to chat with customer service representatives.
• LeadsRx, the leading attribution measurement company, found that auto dealer website visitors spiked up dramatically as the number of daily radio ads run in the market increased: 40 ads a day drove eleven times more website traffic than 1-9 ads a day.
• A virtual radio sales event with a strong media campaign along with an exciting offer can generate comparable results to an in-person remote broadcast.