[Adsales]

Has there been a ‘mass exodus from radio’? I don’t believe that’s the case at all - latest stats suggest all radio has a reach of 88%, with the average UK adult listening to 18 hours of radio per week. 

www.rajar.co.uk 

There most definitely has been a mass exodus, especially in the age group most relevant to advertisers. Radio vs streaming has in fact completely flipped between 2017 and 2022. The numbers will be even worse in this year’s report.

Pages 92-93
www.ofcom.org.uk 

These numbers are very much the same in all western countries, regardless of whether “true local” radio still exists or a Global/Bauer model has been introduced.

There are companies that recognised this threat/trend early on (for example Global, in parts iHeart and Bauer) whereas others are desperately trying to catch up (for example Audacy and in parts Bauer and RTL).

Advertisers expect to book spots cross-platform and target specific. That’s the reason why remaining semi-local stations like KMFM for example have their airtime sold by big competitors (in this case Bauer). The ads make it to KMFM because they’re bought across the Bauer network, per brand and across Rayo.

The more reach across all your platforms you can evidence, the easier it is to sell airtime. That’s why every stream and every podcast Global adds to Global Player makes sense from a business perspective even if it just adds a couple thousand of extra listeners. As long as costs don’t outweigh the benefits of course.

Same applies to why Global are effectively copying Spotify and Apple Music by offering dozens of playlists. Research has shown that while many have switched to streaming, most use is through curated playlists rather than people creating their own. Even when they make their own playlists, curated playlist use comes out top in many situations (car, parties, BBQs etc.).