Nielsen's 'Total Audience Report' For Q1 2019 Has Solid News For Radio

The Latest Data

NIELSEN has released its Total Audience Report For Q1 2019, with radio tune-in remaining steady, boasting the highest reach across all platforms at 92%. 

Media Connected Consumers

Adults in the U.S. continue to increase their overall cross-media diet and, with it, opportunities abound for businesses that have efficient strategies to capitalize on them at their most engaged. These consumers spend 11 hours and 27 minutes per day interacting with media across TV, TV-connected devices, radio, computers, smartphones and tablets—21 minutes of additional media exposure across all platforms from first-quarter 2018. While that time comprises 48% of the total minutes available in a day, some simultaneous usage does occur across devices via multitasking consumers.

Weekly Reach Across Platforms

NIELSEN found that it’s efficient to aim marketing dollars to the specific type of consumer actually buying your product (or dangling those segments in front of marketers if you are a media owner.) After all, consumers have very distinct tastes in both content and product consumption and an environment that lets the industry trade on that individuality, be it pet owners or new car shoppers, is certainly a growing trend.

But if you are a big brand looking to tell your message to consumers at mass scale, the reach of media that come gratis, such as over-the-air TV or terrestrial radio, is still a good bet. While the weekly reach of TV has dipped slightly from 88% in first-quarter 2018 to 86% in first-quarter 2019, the number of over-the-air homes, think rabbit ears, has grown a bit. And radio tune-in remains steady, boasting the highest reach across all platforms at 92%. Among Hispanic adults, it’s even higher: 96%. In terms of other ways homes connect, the reach of internet-connected devices increased the most year-over-year, rising to 42% from 35% in first-quarter 2018. App/web on a smartphone reach grew to 80% among all adults, while tablet reach declined from 47% to 45%.

Media Time By Demographic

It’s no wonder why marketers seem obsessed with reaching adults 18-34 years old. Simply put, Millennials can be hard to figure out, largely because the overall group include s adults moving through an important life stage, from late teens into adulthood. After all, the media habits and influences of an 18-year-old entering secondary education or hitting the workforce are quite different than those of a 30-something who’s fully entrenched in a career, marriage and burgeoning family. The greatest growth in overall time spent with media came from these adults 18-34, who spent an additional 31 minutes per day across all media than the year prior. They also spend one hour and 22 minutes on TV-connected devices, more than any other age group. Marketers should allocate their spend accordingly and look to this connectivity to drive engagement.

Adults 50-64 still spend more time on media than any other group at 12 hours and 51 minutes per day, including the most time on radio, computers and tablets...perhaps a sign of an increasing sedentary lifestyle. It’s important to keep an eye on older demos, however, as U.S. adults are spending more time in the workforce than prior generations and this could impact both their discretionary income as well as the time they have to spend on media as a consumer group.

Taking a deeper look into the share of time spent on each platform reveals an increasing shift toward digital device usage—a shift that adults 18-34 are driving. Notably, this group spends half of its media time with computers, smartphones and tablets. Conversely, adults ages 50-64, who are the largest consumers of all media, spend 51% of their time watching TV and TV-connected devices and 34% on digital platforms. Radio consistently accounts for between 14% and 16% of daily media use across all age groups. With such difference across the generations, media owners and marketers seeking efficiency should allocate efforts accordingly.

The Audio Universe

Audio, in all its various forms, is increasingly winning the attention of American consumers, with new devices and technologies changing the way we listen. Radio remains the centerpiece of the audio universe, reaching more U.S. adults each week at 92% than any other media platform. Half of all adults also use their smartphones to stream audio, a 16% increase over 2018, while 20% stream through their tablets and 16% listen to satellite radio.

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