Edison: One Sixth of Radio listening is now streaming

[PTBoardOp94]

From the latest WW1/Edison Research "Share of Ear" report:

Furthermore, AM/FM radio streaming hit a record high, representing 17% of persons 25-54 AM/FM radio listening, Edison Research data find.

Clipped from: https://www.rbr.com/what-key-findings-can-be-found-in-the-q3-share-of-ear-report/

This is a surprising number to me. Mostly because I'm frequently looking at PPM data, and it is very rare to find a Streaming entry with more than 0.1 or 0.2. In Chicago, the PPM data has only 1.2 shares for streaming, a far cry from 17%.

 

[TheBigA]

This is a surprising number to me. Mostly because I'm frequently looking at PPM data, and it is very rare to find a Streaming entry with more than 0.1 or 0.2. In Chicago, the PPM data has only 1.2 shares for streaming, a far cry from 17%.

One of the issues with PPM data is that the meter has to hear the signal to register. So if the listener is using earbuds without the special PPM adapter, it won't register. But I'm not surprised about the high usage of AM/FM streaming based on the anecdotal information we receive.

I thought this section was significant:

A study of 300 media agencies and marketers conducted in August 2022 by Advertiser Perceptions found the perceived combined share of Pandora/Spotify is 44%, much greater than the 28% perceived share of AM/FM radio.

According to the just-released “Share of Ear” report, AM/FM radio’s persons 18+ share of ad-supported audio (74%) is 15 times larger than Pandora (5%) and 19 times greater than Spotify (4%).

I was surprised that Pandora was higher than Spotify. My perception was the other way around.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I was surprised that Pandora was higher than Spotify. My perception was the other way around.

Your perception is almost certainly right, when it comes to total audience. But Share of Ear only studies the ad-supported tier, and Spotify's users in the US are almost 2/3 subscriber.

 

[davideduardo]

One of the issues with PPM data is that the meter has to hear the signal to register. So if the listener is using earbuds without the special PPM adapter, it won't register.

And in about 14 years since the first roll-outs of the PPM, I have yet to hear either first person or anecdotal reports of anyone using the earbud adapter with their PPM. Of course, the half of all smartphone users who have Apple products have no earphone adapter to begin with...

This is a case where the diary is actually better. I'd love to see diary vs. PPM streaming shares of total listening quarter hours.

 

[Larry]

This is a surprising number to me. Mostly because I'm frequently looking at PPM data, and it is very rare to find a Streaming entry with more than 0.1 or 0.2. In Chicago, the PPM data has only 1.2 shares for streaming, a far cry from 17%.

I’d think that a fair amount of streaming might be out of market stations which wouldn’t necessarily show up in the ratings, in addition to office listening using office issued headphones.

 

[TheBigA]

I’d think that a fair amount of streaming might be out of market stations which wouldn’t necessarily show up in the ratings, in addition to office listening using office issued headphones.

That's certainly what my anecdotal experience has been. I hear from stations who see a lot of out-of-market streaming, and I also see a lot of emails from listeners who do out-of-market streaming. I can't quantify it in the way this study does, but it seems to be pretty widespread.

Here's a link to the rest of the report:

Edison’s “Share Of Ear” Q3 2022: AM/FM Radio Streaming Listening Surges, Now 20% Bigger Than Ad-Supported Spotify And Pandora Combined, And Podcast Audiences Explode | Westwood One

Edison Research’s quarterly “Share of Ear” study is the authoritative examination of time spent with audio in America. Here are the findings of the just released Q3 2022 report.

www.westwoodone.com

 

[davideduardo]

I’d think that a fair amount of streaming might be out of market stations which wouldn’t necessarily show up in the ratings, in addition to office listening using office issued headphones.

If a stream is a 100% simulcast of an AM or FM station or even of an HD-2 or HD-3 channel, the stream will be combined with the "main signal" or "main source" and you won't see that data broken out in the ratings.

But you raise a very interesting point. First, in PPM markets most streams, listened to on earbuds, won't get detected at all as PPM pánelists practically never use an earbud adapter. Second, many if not most streams have different commercials and are not combined. So any ratings based data is totally unreliable.

Since the study was based on asking people how they listened, it was based on people telling about their radio usage, not a quantification of hours and minutes. So the ratings system misses picking up nearly all local station streaming in the PPM markets.

 

[TheBigA]

More from the Edison study. In-car AM/FM listening is huge:

Radios Dominate In-Car Listening In Latest Share Of Ear Research.

Radio continues to dominate in-car listening, according to fresh Share Of Ear data from Edison Research. Among those 13+ who listen to audio in a vehicle, the majority of time

www.insideradio.com

 

[101tm]

I remember when Pandora was all the rage from the later 2000s through the early/mid-2010s. Around the time of P’s IPO, things fell off a cliff for them and SiriusXM hasn’t really stopped the bleeding.

 

[wadio]

The study supports my premise that stations should do their best to make the stream as good an experience as the broadcast: no 60kz hum, no pre-roll ads, no ultra repetitive ads or PSAs. Streaming is the future and quality matters.

 

[vw86]

^ This. It's 2022 and the transitions in and out of stopsets (as well as the content within the stopset) in streaming still sound as clunky and poor as when streaming first became a thing. Audacy stations still cut off the last second or two of any jock break. iHeart still adds fill songs that are compressed or expanded for time and then often cut off or break into regular programming. Cumulus still has repetitive instrumental fills.

 

[macattack]

^ This. It's 2022 and the transitions in and out of stopsets (as well as the content within the stopset) in streaming still sound as clunky and poor as when streaming first became a thing. Audacy stations still cut off the last second or two of any jock break. iHeart still adds fill songs that are compressed or expanded for time and then often cut off or break into regular programming. Cumulus still has repetitive instrumental fills.

Hubbard seems to have mastered online streaming. I have tried WDRV, KDKB, KPNT, KSHE, and WARH of their music offerings and I have never experienced any of these errors when streaming them.

(It’s a pipe dream but I would love for Hubbard to buy WXRT off of Audacy so that station can stream right for once.)

 

[davideduardo]

I remember when Pandora was all the rage from the later 2000s through the early/mid-2010s. Around the time of P’s IPO, things fell off a cliff for them and SiriusXM hasn’t really stopped the bleeding.

You might want to check out the Q3 2022 financials for Sirius/XM at:

https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_26e7fbceb5351b4999b79192883e8795/siriusxm/news/2022-11-01_SiriusXM_Reports_Third_Quarter_2022_1891.pdf

I'd like to "bleed" a gross profit of $1.1 billion!

 

[CTListener]

The study supports my premise that stations should do their best to make the stream as good an experience as the broadcast: no 60kz hum, no pre-roll ads, no ultra repetitive ads or PSAs. Streaming is the future and quality matters.

What if "no pre-roll" turns out to be a deal breaker that causes the station to lose a potentially valuable advertiser? In sales, the customer is always right, even when they're irritating or just plain wrong. So can any station (or chain) afford to refuse to do pre-rolls if some other player in the market profits from that refusal by getting the valuable account for itself?

 

[wadio]

What if "no pre-roll" turns out to be a deal breaker that causes the station to lose a potentially valuable advertiser? In sales, the customer is always right, even when they're irritating or just plain wrong. So can any station (or chain) afford to refuse to do pre-rolls if some other player in the market profits from that refusal by getting the valuable account for itself?

That's a stretch. But hey, you work something out -- bonus him some extra spots or whatever. That's why God made salespeople!

 

[vw86]

The preroll isn't what bothers me, honestly. It's the terrible split and rejoin moments combined with the usually awful stopset fill content.

That said, I have always enjoyed WDRV and took macattack's advice, and you were right. I had a flawless streaming experience. They either stream their over the air stopsets or actually have figured it out.

On the flipside, I am completely done with TuneIn. They are now interrupting programming every 30 minutes to run their own :30 or :60 ad. Instead of a preroll, I consider it a "midroll". It's not at all the stations, it is 100% TuneIn's doing.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The preroll isn't what bothers me, honestly. It's the terrible split and rejoin moments combined with the usually awful stopset fill content.

That said, I have always enjoyed WDRV and took macattack's advice, and you were right. I had a flawless streaming experience. They either stream their over the air stopsets or actually have figured it out.

On the flipside, I am completely done with TuneIn. They are now interrupting programming every 30 minutes to run their own :30 or :60 ad. Instead of a preroll, I consider it a "midroll". It's not at all the stations, it is 100% TuneIn's doing.

I get so tired of Jim Stykemain but I only have to hear has wacky car dealer ad when I start the stream on the days I listen.

KTUC has a different ad for each of theirs.