Information About Radio

By Author: FIRELEAVES
Total Articles: 49
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As advertisers target messages to build brands, radio's share of the total advertising dollars spent on media is rising. In 1998, radio's share was 7 percent, and some people predicted that it would reach 8 percent by 2000.

To a greater extent than television, radio reaches its largest audiences outside the home. The times during which we drive to work (morning drive time), drive from work (afternoon drive time), and listen in the office while working are what attract advertisers.

Radio divides into AM and FM. FM offers superior fidelity and is preferred by those who have grown up on FM stereo. In 1998, there were 7,507 FM stations and 4,755 AM stations. Moreover, FM stations Cartier Santos Replica received 77 percent of radio advertising revenues. Some radio manufacturers are now producing radios without an AM band. In 1999, the trend in the radio industry was toward the consolidation of FM and AM stations.

Because FM sound quality is generally superior to that on AM, most AM stations deliver news and talk; a few, such as ...
... the news station WINS-AM in New York, are very profitable. Many surviving AM stations are institutions in their communities. WGN-AM, which airs Chicago Cubs baseball games, is one such station. In 1989, it generated $37.4 million in advertising revenue, leading all other radio stations in the United States.

The ratings system for radio is very similar to the local market and demographics ratings systems for television. However, radio ratings measure individual, not house-hold, listenership, and they include out-of-home listening.

Arbitron ratings dominate radio in the same way that Nielsen ratings dominate television. Radio stations charge advertisers on the basis of how many listeners Arbitron determines they have (measured in listening five minutes out of a quarter hour). Drive time (6:00 to 10:00 A.M. and 3:00 to 7:00 P.M.) is radio's equivalent of prime time for advertising, and during these peak periods, radio delivers an audience that cannot readily switch to television.

ABC, CBS, National Black, Sheridan, Satellite Music, Unistar, Westwood One Radio Networks, advertisers, and agencies jointly sponsor what are known as RADAR studies. These studies report U.S. radio usage. The Omega Replica Watches RADAR report for spring 1990 found that more than 96 percent of those 12 or older listened to the radio during the course of a week. In an average quarter hour, nearly 24 million individuals were listen-ing to radio. The FM share of this audience was 77 percent. Between 1985 and 1990, the FM share grew by about 1 percent per year.64 In March 1995, RADAR reported that ABC had 43.6 percent of the listeners of network radio over 12 years of age; Westwood One, 39.5 percent; CBS, 13.9 percent; and the American Urban Radio Network (AURN), 3 percent.