We Are SO Smart

I went with that headline instead of just stealing the one atop the Country Radio Seminar's latest press release:  "Young Country Fans Use an Average of Five Different Social Media Sites" because "we are so smart" is what Mike O'Malley, Becky Brenner and I said to ourselves after seeing this yesterday:

Where should Country radio engage with its new generation of listeners? Everywhere and at once.  A new study on Country listening and media usage among 12-to-34-year-olds shows that the average number of different social media sites used by that demographic is an impressive 4.4. But 12-to-34-year-olds who listen frequently to Country music are even more prone to be using multiple social media sites simultaneously, an average of 5.0.

Edison Research’s “Understanding Country Radio’s Next Generation of Listeners” is the newest research on the music and media habits of 12-to-34-year olds. The full survey will be unveiled February 19th at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville by Edison’s Larry Rosin and Megan Lazovick, along with Jayne Charneski, an expert on “Millennials.” A follow-up session will be held February 20th.

Edison surveyed 1,550 12-34-year-olds, including nearly 900 respondents under age 25.   In addition, Edison conducted face-to-face interviews with Millennials about their attitudes towards Country music, Country radio, and music listening and media habits in general. Those interviews will be unveiled for the first time at the Country Radio Seminar presentation. 

The average number of social networks used is the number that respondents said that they used “actively or occasionally.”

“Broadcasters are at widely varying places in their social media efforts, and acknowledging the need to engage with listeners and potential listeners does not always translate to having a strategy,” says Edison Research president Larry Rosin. “Knowing that young Country fans are on even more networks than their already savvy peers means that Country needs a wide-ranging social media strategy that goes beyond ‘like us on Facebook.’ We look forward to helping guide broadcasters craft that strategy at CRS.”

That process already started long ago at A&O&B. 

That's why we hired Jacobs Media's Lori Lewis to help our clients navigate the future.  It begins publicly at A&O&B's Pre-CRS Seminar February 18 in Nashville, where you will want to hear Lori's presentation, part of our best client seminar EVER.

RSVP for 2014's 2/18 client seminar now (click)!

You Will Thank Me For This

1.  Go to Twitter.
2.  Search for this:





3.  Thanks to all of the prolific Tweeters, you'll feel like you were at today's Conclave Jacobs Radio School.

Free Must-Have Research Tools

Just three quick highlights from Arbitron's Client Conference and Jacobs Media Summit...

U.S. Census Bureau's Dr. Robert Groves: The U.S. Census Bureau has several free online tools to help you get a handle on the local job market.

“You see where workers live, where they work, lives and how they commute. The possibilities and uses are endless for radio and any other planners.”

Industry Focus allows users to identify the leading industries for an area, focus on a particular industry to see how it ranks among top industries, and view graphs and charts of worker characteristics within industries. Users can analyze industries by state, county, workforce investment or metro area based on eight workforce indicators.

On the Map is a Web-based mapping tool showing where people live in relation to where they work with reports on age, earnings, industry distribution and local workforce indicators.

The Local Employment Dynamics data tools can be found at http://lehd.did.census.gov/led/.

Speaking of maps: Google maps has real time traffic info, and it's likely your listeners access it now from their vehicle if they have a smart phone. If you do traffic on the radio, you need to be looking at this info if it's available in your city or listeners will know more than you do.

Some undeniable great info for sales and programming: Radio Delivers 93 Percent of its Lead-In Audience During the Average Commercial Break - Arbitron, Media Monitors and Coleman Insights expand on landmark 2006 study

The 2011 study of minute-by-minute audience levels across 48 top radio markets again demonstrates that radio maintains its audience delivery during commercial breaks, contrary to the common misperception among advertisers, agencies and even radio executives that audiences during commercial breaks are a fraction of the numbers that were listening to the station just before the commercials began.

For the 2011 study, Arbitron, Media Monitors and Coleman Insights analyzed 18 million commercial breaks, 62 million minutes of commercials and 866 stations for a year of audience data from all 48 PPM markets to compare the audience level for each minute of a commercial break to the audience for the minute before the commercials began.

Paul Jacobs Goes (A&O Pre-CRS Seminar) Mobile

.. and he was kind enough to bring a video version of Jacobs Media/Arbitron's research project showcasing how constantly drawn we all are to mobile devices, particularly smart phones.

He left us with this advice:

Radio simply must find a way to get into every one of them, and #3 is the way to do it immediately, while we wistfully dream of FM inside 'em at some time in the distant future, perhaps.

For more info, contact Jacobs Media.