If you want to get a true sense of where digital information gathering and usage is moving, look no further than sports fans.
As a group, they have a voracious appetite for all-things sports – scores, information, the odds, fantasy developments, behind the scenes info, celebrity gossip, and yes, the games themselves. The World Series may be behind us, but that just means our attentions shift to the rest of the NFL season, great college football rivalries, and the onset of the NHL and NBA seasons. In sports, there’s rarely a “slow day.”
In Techsurvey9, we examined the web habits across 12 different formats, and we learned something interesting: Sports Radio aficionados often profile higher than fans of other radio formats. In the case of heavy Internet usage – being online 8 or more hours a day – they’re right up there (only behind younger formats like CHR and Alternative):
Suffice it to say, these guys know their way around the web. So when the story broke earlier this week that for the first time ever in September, ESPN’s unique visitors were higher on their mobile apps than on their website, it was major sports news.
And it affirms the momentum that mobile continues to have, especially for audience groups on the go. GeekWire reports that comScore data shows that ESPN mobile apps recorded 47.4 million uniques, compared to 46.1 million who visited ESPN.com.
And nearly half (44%) of all time spent using ESPN’s digital content came from mobile devices – smartphones and tablets.
And one last thing – what we’ve seen in our Techsurveys about sports fans and Twitter is reinforced by ESPN data. In TS9, Sports Radio P1s were miles ahead of every other format when it came to Twitter:
And ESPN behavior reflects the sport junkie/Twitter connection as (along with ABC sports television content) they generated 15 million tweets in September. Given that Nielsen is now measuring the relationship between Twitter and TV ratings (and there most certainly is one), ESPN is in an excellent position to win big in both social and usage metrics.
Knowing your audience and what they’re doing is a key element in winning in the media race of today. Not so many years ago, knowing the best testing songs or your TSL versus that of your key competitor was usually good enough to win. We learned at DASH that the automakers know a great deal more about consumers than we do in radio.
Today, you need to understand your listeners as their media world expands faster than imaginable. It’s why we continue to conduct our Techsurveys every year. And you can participate in this year’s 10th annual survey by clicking here. While there are now many excellent research studies measuring tech usage among radio listeners, ours is the only one that actually surveys your own listeners, providing you with a unique view of their habits, tastes, and perceptions.
There’s never been a time when you need this knowledge in order to develop smart strategies. We hope you join the more than 260 stations who participated last year in creating the largest study ever conducted for radio.
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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