Network Radio 101 Series: What, How, & Why
Photo by Ryan Stefan on Unsplash
No one listens...it’s too old fashioned...it’s not targeted enough...these are just some of the misconceptions about radio. Here’s the thing, radio is the number one mass-reach medium, but it still delivers an unmatched level of intimacy to the listener.
To kick off this series, let’s go back to the basics with a refresher on what network radio is, how it differs from network TV, and why it needs to be a part of any brand strategy. As a bonus, we’ve included a quick glossary of key terms.
WHAT IS NETWORK RADIO?
There are over 15K radio stations in the U.S. Network Radio provides advertisers presence on hundreds or thousands of local radio stations, nationally.
Radio networks are groups of radio stations that provide their affiliates with programming, production, sports, and news services that wouldn’t be available on a local market basis.
The sweeping coverage Network Radio offers makes it extremely cost-effective and efficient. Going beyond an efficiency medium, you can add audience targeting to the mix along with reach and frequency.
Networks are built to deliver specific demos like Men 25-54 and Women 18-49, or they can be custom-built to suit a specific need. Custom-built networks of stations with shared demographic and/or formats allow advertisers to be even more targeted in their buys.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT?
With one fixed station per market and different shows on that station appealing to different demographics, TV requires buys across different shows to reach a target demo.
Network Radio builds networks around multiple stations in every market to deliver a targeted demo every day, all day long. Network Radio isn't as targeted as programmatic digital ads, but it offers more consistent targeting than TV.
But that doesn’t mean that radio can’t play nice with TV. In fact, radio adds incremental reach to TV plans. A series of Nielsen cross-media studies found that adding radio to a TV plan generates an average lift in incremental reach of 20%.
WHY NETWORK RADIO?
Did we mention it’s the top reach medium? Let’s look at some of the benefits of buying Network Radio by the numbers:
237M - The U.S. population reached by radio every week, making it America’s #1 reach medium. (RADAR 153, June 2022 (C) Nielsen Audio, M-Su 24-Hour Cume Est.)
88% - The percentage of consumers 18+ reached every week. Radio is still a top source for music discovery and the most used audio source in the car. (Nielsen Total Audience Report June 2021)
$10 - Radio delivers an average ROI of $10 for every $1 spent on the platform. (Nielsen 2014-2016)
11:13 - Radio listeners spend an average of 11 hours and 13 minutes with audio every week.
(RADAR 153, June 2022 (C) Nielsen Audio, M-Su 24-Hour Cume Est. P12+)
77% - More than three-fourth of respondents trust the information they receive from their favorite on-air hosts. (Engagement labs 2020)
1 - With one plan, an advertising campaign can deliver the entire country.
Network Radio Glossary
Average Quarter-Hour Persons (AQH)
The average number of persons listening to a particular station for at least five consecutive minutes during a 15-minute period.
Cost Per Point (CPP)
The cost of reaching an Average Quarter-Hour Persons audience that is equivalent to one percent of the population in a given demographic group.
Commercial cost divided by AQH Rating = CPP or
Cost of schedule divided by GRP (Gross Rating Points) = CPP
Cost Per Thousand (CPM)
The cost of delivering 1,000 gross impressions.
Commercial cost divided by AQH Persons x 1000 = CPM or
Cost of schedule divided by Gross Impressions (GI) x 1000 = CPM
Cume Persons
The total number of different persons who listen to a Radio station during a daypart for at least five consecutive minutes.
Cume Rating
The Cume Persons audience expressed as a percentage of all persons estimated to be in the specified demographic group.
Cume Persons divided by the population x 100 = Cume Rating (%)
Duplication
The amount of the audience that is exposed to a commercial on more than one station. Duplication can be expressed either in terms of the actual number of exclusive listeners or as a percentage of the total cume.
Frequency
The average number of times the same person will hear a commercial.
Gross Rating Points (GRPs)
The sum of all rating points achieved for a particular commercial schedule.
AQH Rating x the number of commercials in the advertising schedule =GRPs
(Source: Radio Advertising Bureau)