Audacy: For Commuters, Economy is #1 Issue
Audacy’s VP, government and political partnerships Haley Teare-Lombardo and SVP of research and insights Ray Borelli were recently interviewed by Shane Greer of Campaigns & Elections what Greer calls the challenge of using advertising to reach additionally voters instead of reaching the same voters all the time. 
Borelli and Teare-Lombardo say that with the economy being top of mind, commuters may be a particularly important audience and that radio can help campaigns reach voters beyond traditional TV and digital buys. For example: 1) 59% of likely voters who commute say the economy and cost of living are the most important issues shaping their vote, rising to 73% among commuting homeowners with children; 2) Commuters are a significant audience: 78% of employed Americans commute at least two days a week, and nearly 90% travel by car; 3) Radio reaches voters during the commute: AM/FM radio captures 82% of ad-supported audio listening during weekday commuting hours; and 4) Radio can extend TV/CTV reach: In the 2022 midterms, radio added 676,000 incremental voters (+10%) to John Fetterman’s TV/CTV reach in Pennsylvania and 659,000 (+18%) to Raphael Warnock’s in Georgia. See a video of the interview here.
16% year-over-year decline in the percentage of Americans who say they get their news ‘often’ from apps like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X.2. In this rapidly changing landscape, consumers are increasingly turning to All News Radio for local news, trusted voices, and fact-based reporting.” Borelli cites as evidence for this Nielsen data indicating that Audacy all-news stations are up 11% versus last year and adds that’s coming off a presidential election year. Ben Mevorach is vice president of news at WINS, New York and he says, “As the number of places to get news continues to grow, the number of places to find news that is credible, trustworthy, and without bias is rapidly shrinking. People constantly tell us that 1010 WINS is their sole source for news they can trust.” 
marketers, not because it’s ineffective, but because it’s quietly efficient.” He adds, “Low levels of variability and the lack of granular data at the campaign and market levels can cloud the results. Smaller campaign investments can also fly under the radar, making it harder for models to detect Audio’s true impact.” Borelli says Audacy is working with other audio companies and with partners like the RAB and IAB to provide more granular data and to standardize model inputs. “We’re running model audits and retroactive studies to properly demonstrate Audio’s impact including replacing media plan data with ‘as-run’ actuals because as-run data provides significantly more variation, which stimulates the models to more effectively identify radio’s correlation with sales results.”