Nielsen, Westwood One Rebut Conclusions Of "The Rise Of Digital' Report

Reach, Inc.

Music industry pundit and MUSINOMICS blogger LARRY MILLER's 30-page report, "PARADIGM SHIFT: WHY RADIO MUST ADAPT TO THE RISE OF DIGITAL," (NET NEWS, 8/30), has been met with polar opposite views from NIELSEN, which offered its own data, and WESTWOOD ONE's blog, which also cited NIELSEN data.

NIELSEN offered this statement:

In NIELSEN's latest Total Audience Report 2017, Q1 data shows that Generation Z spent over 35 hours per month listening to AM/FM radio and 88% of Generation Z use radio each week. Meanwhile, NIELSEN’s Ethnic Audio Today report cites that nearly 75 million weekly radio consumers are Black and Hispanic - up from 73 million a year prior.

Millions of Americans rely on radio for information and entertainment every week. NIELSEN data affirms radio's continued vitality. In the face of a constantly shifting media landscape, radio continues to have the broadest weekly reach among all media."

In the WESTWOOD ONE's "Everyone's Listening" blog, CUMULUS/WESTWOOD ONE Chief Insights Officer PIERRE BOUVARD trotted out NIELSEN data on reach and music discovery to buttress the perspective that terrestrial radio is alive, well and not going anywhere anytime soon.

The moral of the story: don’t always believe everything you read, especially from streaming music royalty organizations. In summary:

* AM/FM radio reach is rock steady among kids 6-11, teens, and 18-24s
* The older you are, the more you listen
* Each week, AM/FM radio reaches 90% of younger Americans
* AM/FM radio remains the number one source of music discovery
* For advertisers targeting 18-34 Millennials, AM/FM radio is AMERICA’s #1 mass-reach media

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