It’s incredible to believe that 2017 is coming to a close. The year just seemed to fly by.
There were so many events that took place around the world this past year and many of these events left a mark in the world of pop culture. Similar to events that shaped pop culture, there were events that shaped and influenced how radio is perceived.
Noted below (in no particular order) are just the top 10 events that occurred in the world of radio.
- Radio remains #1 reach medium for 9 consecutive quarters.
- Radio recorded record-breaking ratings as the primary source of information during an unprecedented year of natural and unnatural disasters.
- The transformational Entercom/CBS Radio merger will work to elevate the entire radio industry among advertisers and radio professionals alike.
- Radio drives an average 29% incremental lift in online search (across 8 brands and nearly 2,157 ads studied).
- Podcasting is taking the nation’s earbuds by storm as one of the fastest growing audio platforms, and radio plays a critically important role in producing and disseminating this content.
- Westwood One launches the first radio, industry-wide ROI guarantee to advertisers. As marketers demand solutions to reach customers and generate results, this initiative offers qualifying clients the ability to accomplish their business objectives with a guaranteed positive ROI. As the program pretests commercial creative against industry audio creative norms, media campaigns will be created to target and resonate with the brands’ audience and Nielsen will measure return on advertising spend on behalf of the radio campaign.
- Radio’s ability to track results and prove ROI for advertising continues to grow through innovation and research partnerships with companies including Sequent Partners, Dial Report, Analytic Owl, Nielsen, Ipsos, Veritonic, ABX and many, many more.
- Chicago Radio breaks precedent again on July 10, 2017, when Chicago radio stations joined as a community to simultaneously broadcast an interview with Ed Wehmer, Founder, President and CEO of Wintrust Financial Corporation — a bank holding company headquartered in Chicago. 40 radio stations in the Chicago area simultaneously aired a :60 second interview where Wehmer shared his views on radio’s effectiveness. Click here to listen to the audio with their first-ever town hall simulcast. Also, for the first time in radio’s history, 47 radio stations in a single major market simultaneously aired a 30-minute, commercial-free, live broadcast conversation with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in what was coined a “Chicago Radio Town Hall Meeting.”
- Smart Speakers — As stand-alone radios become less prominent in the home, smart speakers are there to ensure radio stays in the home in a more robust and interactive way. In fact, according to “The Smart Audio Report” from NPR and Edison Research, 70% of device owners say they listen to more audio at home since buying the speakers. Smart Speakers make it easy for consumers to listen to their favorite radio station, trusted radio personality and the content they want to hear.
- Motel 6 does it again! The 2017 $50,000 Best of Show Radio Mercury Award was presented to The Richards Group for their Motel 6 campaign because it created a fresh, top-of-mind execution to convey Motel 6’s iconic brand. The Motel 6 campaign that has featured the voice of Tom Bodett for nearly 30 years, has significantly contributed to the Motel 6 position as the leader in the economy lodging segment.
We hope you enjoyed reading this list as much as we enjoyed compiling it.
From the RAB family to you and yours,
Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!