This was our 19th annual Techsurvey, and by now, you’d think I’d be out of surprises. As we do every year, the field work is done for the world’s largest survey of radio listeners in January and February each year. We then spend the next 8-10 weeks poring through the data, looking for trends, insights, and even a revelation or two.
This survey spews out a lot of data. After all, 434 stations participated, producing just north of 30,000 interviews. And in spite of the fact that stakeholder stations come and go, these studies are remarkably consistent and very trackable. After Jason Hollins, Paul Jacobs, and I go through the obligatory spreadsheets, I find I can retain lots of data points. That’s helpful to have at the ready, especially during presentations.
After all these years, I’ve gotten to know the audience well. More than 1,000 focus groups and one-on-one interviews along the way color in the data, often providing that all-important narrative. So, bottom line: By the time I present a Techsurvey to you, I know the data pretty well.
But this year, we decided to add a new wrinkle to the industry presentation: a poll question via Zoom. Over the years, an estimated 1/2 million core radio listeners have taken one or more of our Techsurveys, but the one group I never collect any data from is YOU.
The idea was to drop in a revealing question at the beginning that our media observers could answer. So right after I got through my welcomes and preliminaries, I posed this question:
What is the ONE most important issue to you in 2023?
And we provided this list:
- Artificial intelligence
- Radio and the Gen Z audience
- Finding the next generation of on-air personalities
- The future of radio in the car
- The Metaverse
- Podcasting
- Social media concerns
Researcher that I am, I always try to anticipate “the winner,” often when I’m writing the question. And as I said at the end of this week’s webinar when I saw the results for the first time, along with the attendees, I was honestly surprised.
Why?
I thought the winner would be A.I., especially based on all those conversations we’ve been having. But I was wrong. The most important issue to the more than 200 of you who voted is now an “oldie,” but apparently very much on the front burner:
Radio in the car
As I explained to Radio Ink‘s new scribe, Cameron Coates, “Yes, I expected A.I. to be number one; that’s what broadcasters would be thinking about just based on industry buzz…So I was a bit surprised. I think some of the change was influenced by the NAB Show. The future of radio in the car has also been really big this year, mostly because of the AM story. But I’ve been living with the car thing for so long now….but the car has more ‘legs,’ so to speak than A.I.”
After all at Jacobs Media, we’ve talking about radio in the car for 15-ish years, starting with the development of Ford Sync and their CEO, Alan Mullaly’s keynote at CES back in 2009. Since then, the connection between radio broadcasters and automakers has run the gamut. We hosted those three DASH Conferences in Detroit (with Radio Ink) in 2013, 2014, and 2015. And during this period, we’ve seen many big stories emerge: autonomous cars, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, EVs, Alexa and Google in cars, metadata in the dash, and now, the possible demise of AM in cars.
One thing that hasn’t changed – the car is still radio’s #1 listening location, even though it has been diminished by greater choice in truly “connected” vehicles. In recent years, broadcasters have faced the invasion of satellite radio, streaming music, podcasts, and even talking books – all living right alongside one’s favorite radio stations.
I also want to give a shoutout to the Gen Z response. Overall, nearly one-fifth (19%) of those responding to our Zoom Poll pointed to the industry’s relationship (or lack thereof) with young people. I’ve been harping on this for years, going all the way back to a Radio Show in the 20-teens when I did a presentation, “Your 14 year-old thinks radio sucks.”
Today, I might reword it a bit:
“Your 14 year-old think radio sucks”
OK, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the fact is, radio broadcasters have done blessedly little to address the issue of where the next generation of radio listenership is going to originate from. Honestly, I thought most people didn’t care. But after staring at this poll question, I’m not so sure.
True, A.I. is a big deal. It was singled out by nearly one in four of our webinar attendees who answered the poll question. But that was a good distance away from the top position. I would hope that broadcasters are looking to the future of the audience – and not just robot voices.
I appreciate all the stakeholders who make this survey possible, those who attended the webinars, and those who write about radio.
We still have a lot to learn about our century-old business, strange as that may seem.
And for me, it started this week with asking YOU.
You can read the Radio Ink story here.
You can read the Inside Radio story here.
You can read the Radio World story here.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Bottom line–in media it’s all about DISTRIBUTION. How strong is your signal?
How many subscribers? How many eyes or ears do you reach?
Loosing the mobile listener in cars can change the paradigm.
This is the first car I’ve ever owned with an HD Radio. (And I thought an FM Converter was the height of luxury back in the day.)
I’d give up the satellite radio subscription in the car in a heartbeat if the stations in my market had a few sub-channels with different genres as variations of the main signal’s format (as long as there aren’t 10 minute commercials breaks).
But then there isn’t much hardware, if any, to be able to listen to HD Radio in the home.
Its almost like radio as an industry has given up. You’d think there would be a lot of mileage behind the idea “no subscription fee”.
As a citizen I’d have ticked “social media concerns,” but as a radio guy (retired, but still) I’m with you: Gen Z–and Millenials etc. Radio could disappear without a trace and most of them wouldn’t notice, let alone care. It breaks my heart, but they don’t care about that, either.
I am VERY interested in the possibilities and opportunities of ATSC 3.0…
Jerry’s comment above reminds me of something I’ve wondered about. Why hasn’t radio’s HD channels had the success of TV’s multicasting channels? One local TV station in my town has a network affiliate on its main signal, Me-TV next, GRIT (mostly western movies) next, ION next, BOUNCE next, an all-news channel next and a shopping channel last. It’s almost as if they think spreading a wide net of specialty programming channels, some quite popular, might result in larger viewership overall. Gee, I wonder if there’s anything radio could learn from that?
I take it that the TV station here is owned by Scripps–although similar examples apply to pretty much any significant owner. Unfortunately, radio in the U.S. doesn’t have a counterpart to TV’s must-carry or retransmission consent; even if the subchannels are carried on the actual digital signal, the cable coverage that can be the result of those regulations is still important.
However, this does also bring up a similar issue: getting radio stations carried on TV. Some platforms (e.g., iHeartRadio and Radioplayer) do have specific TV capabilities. But, for individual stations/groups, perhaps it’d be good to try going for direct coverage from providers. Here’s how Portugal’s (national) RFM describes its TV coverage (although the pandemic-era phrasing hasn’t been changed)…
https://rfm.sapo.pt/content/6592/como-ouvir-a-rfm-na-televisao
Almost all of the formats/brands from competitor Bauer (specifically, Radio Comercial, M80, Cidade, and Smooth) mention similar coverage on their sites. Most of them might take it a bit further, though, by having a specific feedback form for listeners to ask for additional coverage–e.g., “Quer ouvir a Smooth FM noutro sistema? Preencha o formulário abaixo que nós ajudamos.”
Yes, Eric, the station is owned by Scripps, and I did think of some of the points you brought up but wanted to keep my comment from getting too long. (I actually edited down some of the very points you made.) Clearly, there are differences between the two mediums that make things more challenging for radio, not the least of which is listener habits. With analog TV being stopped entirely and new receivers required, if you’re watching OTA, you have no choice but to hit ALL of the stations offered when going up and down the dial. I wonder how many radio stations might find some audience for those HD channels (and more willingness to spend and support those channels) if those channels came up as readily as the main channels? Meantime, RFM is obviously doing things right in making their signals available to more people via TV. Lots to learn there and much that could be implemented. Thanks for the reply.