Moneyball: Alt and Rock P1 Deep Dive (and a new webinar)
• Last week we shared a deep dive into findings concerning CHR and AC P1s from the latest NuVoodoo national study. We’ll wrap up this week with a deep dive into P1s for Alt and Rock radio.
Among Alt P1s, their favorite music radio station ranks fourth, behind Google, YouTube, and Amazon when asked how important over two dozen various digital and media entities are in their daily lives. Yet among Rock P1s, their favorite music radio station is tied for third (with Amazon) in that ranking, slightly behind Facebook and YouTube.
It’s striking how much importance the (mostly male) Rock P1s place on all these digital and media entities – and especially how much passion there is for their P1 radio choice. Perhaps it makes more sense viewed in context of their top reasons for using radio. Among Rock P1s, radio being free is their top reason, but a very close #2 is that it keeps them company – these radio stations are companions for listeners. The stations are more than a music utility and would be harder to replace with a pureplay streaming service.
It’s a different story among the Alt P1s, where 50% cite radio being free as a top reason. For this group, the second-ranked reason is to get in a better mood, followed by nearly a third who say listening is just a habit.
Radio is the last thing that most Alt and Rock P1s heard in a vehicle (60% for Alt, 55% for Rock). It was not surprising to see a few more Rock P1s than Alt P1s say they last heard SiriusXM in a vehicle, given the Rock listener affinity for Howard Stern, but it was surprising to see a slightly higher percentage of Rock P1s having last used pureplay streaming in a vehicle compared to Alt P1s.
Those who last used streaming while in a car are reminders that stations need to air reminders of what listeners will they’ll miss if they don’t tune back in later or come back tomorrow. There are lots of listening choices in current generation vehicles — and some don’t easily default to radio, even when it’s the last thing that was on.
Alt P1s are as likely to make too many bad songs as “commercials that keep going and going” when asked about things that make them switch stations. Rock P1s complain at slightly lower levels about music selection and repetition problems, but long commercial breaks lead to tuneouts here as well.
You may not be able to do anything about commercial load, but song selection is within your control. From our point of view, music selection is best guided by any metric that provides solid feedback on music from listeners to your station in your market. While streaming stats can provide insights into what songs are getting interest from fan groups, those stats don’t provide an accurate reflection of tastes among a local radio audience.
NuVoodoo is excited to present data in a RAB webinar on September 15 — “Radio Works for Financial Services” starts at 12pm CT. We’re presenting a case study about a marketing campaign for a regional bank. Data from the brand lift study that NuVoodoo conducted shows broadcast radio’s positive impact on campaign KPIs and radio’s ability to drive trust for financial institutions. You can register for this session on the RAB website.
