Radio has incredible staying power.

We’ve written before about radio’s reach, but it’s a topic that deserves regular reconsideration because of the implications it has for broadcast public relations professionals, marketers, and anyone else who can stand to benefit from a wide-reaching form of communication.

Nielsen recently published its most up-to-date numbers on the weekly reach of all digital platforms, proving yet again that radio is sticking around.

Radio reaches 98 percent of the adult population ages 18 through 49, according to the Nielsen report, which also says that those listeners most prefer country music. Even in looking at gender, listenership remains high. Both women and men 18-49 use radio in large numbers, with their listenership nearly equal at 65.9 million (97%) and 65.4 million (98%), respectively, according to Nielsen.

Even though it’s easy to imagine radio may be missing an important segment of the population – Gen Z. or the Millennials – to streaming services, it’s proven resilient to that impact as well.

Ninety-three percent of ‘teens’ age 12 to 17 years old listen to radio, with pop being the most popular format. Ninety-six percent of adults age 18 to 24 listen to radio monthly, with country being the most popular format.

Even more interesting to note is the reach of radio among non-white listeners. The data revealed that 99 percent of Hispanics over the age of 12 are reached each month by radio, and 98 percent of black Americans over the age of 12 are reached each month by radio.

Moreover, most radio listening is done when people are out and about – running errands, potentially ready to purchase and shop. Seventy one percent of people listen in the car during weekday drive times, and 79 percent of people listen in the car on weekends.

Radio Media Tour Broadcast PR 2

So what does all this mean for public relations professionals and marketers?

The reach of radio has big lessons for public relations professionals and marketers, because it means they can reach diverse audiences with important messages during key dayparts.

4media group offers radio media tours, which afford huge reach for a great value, putting a talented spokesperson and tailored message on channels across the country. Beyond that, specific channels can be used to target other groups, where Hispanic listeners and black listeners are also tuning in to a strong degree. This means that well-conceived media buys can be a boon to companies looking to penetrate certain target markets.

The reach of radio is important to understand for any brand, regardless of who is being targeted. And with such a wide swathe of the US population tuning in, a radio media tour has another huge bonus: it doesn’t appear exactly like an advertisement.

RMT’s are a more organic means of communicating on air. Because they’re presented as educational pieces, they can impart great new information while at the same time making organic product mentions.

If you want to leverage radio’s massive reach to get your message out there in an easy-to-hear way, feel free to drop us a line.