MLB Listeners are Major Prospects for Brands

NEW MRI-SIMMONS DATA SHINES LIGHT ON MLB'S BIGGEST FANS: RADIO PLAY-BY-PLAY LISTENERS

Major League Baseball season is here, and fans are warmed up, ready to tune in and cheer on their favorite teams. Loyal fans flock to their team’s flagship radio station to follow the action, and in turn, advertisers get the chance to reach some of the most engaged and lucrative audiences in all of baseball. Katz's analysis of the latest MRI-Simmons data finds that consumers who listen to MLB broadcasts on the radio are major prospects for sports marketers.

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MLB listeners are not your average MLB fans. They are passionate and loyal to their teams, at levels far higher than the average. 63% consider themselves “super fans” of baseball, +66% more than the average fan. One-third recently purchased clothing/apparel that features their favorite team (+84% above the average), and 4 in 10 have visited a ballpark in the past year - more than double the attendance level among average fans. 

MLB listeners are heavy hitters with deep pockets and high spending power. 70% of listeners are currently employed, with a median household income of $104K. Listeners' median household net worth, the aggregation of all their assets, is $426K, +17% above the MLB fan average. Play-by-play listeners are more likely to get in on the action themselves by spending money in online sports gambling. They are +116% more likely to play fantasy baseball and +52% more likely to place a sports bet than the average MLB fan.  

Radio play-by-play is a home run for advertisers, delivering loyal, engaged, and valuable audiences in local markets across the U.S. Not only does play-by-play connect  advertisers with some of the most desirable consumers in the country, it links them to local teams, giving them the opportunity to have their brand names mentioned alongside a sports fan's favorite brand: the home team.

Taking in the Latest Media Landscape

Nielsen's Audience Insights data provides the marketplace with a current, comprehensive, and detailed overview of the media universe, including both traditional and digital platforms. The latest data from 4th Quarter 2022 highlights that radio continues to play a dominant role in consumers' lives even as the media landscape evolves.

RADIO'S COMMANDING REACH SPANS ACROSS DEMOS 

As in all previous versions of Nielsen's cross-platform views, radio earns the title of #1 measured media in America, with over 217 million adults tuning in weekly, or 85% of the adult population. Radio holds the top spot for A35-49 (87%), and A50-64 (90%) and 2nd place for A18-34 (79%) and A65+ (85%).

Radio reaches over +7.7M more A18+ than its closest competitor, smartphone app/web. Television, the only other traditional media on the list, comes in 21.2M below radio for A18+, with its reach spanning from as low as 56% of A18-34 to as high as 92% of A65+. And perhaps a relevant reminder for those of us who work in front of a computer all day, +58M more A18+ engage with radio each week than with internet on a computer. 

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Nielsen's Audience Insights data serves as a reminder to marketers that there continues to be a prominent place for AM/FM radio in consumers' lives. Consumers of all ages are engaging with AM/FM content, and as the landscape evolves, they will have more options for listening to radio content across their favorite media platforms - from OTA, to smartphones, to TV-connected devices.  

New Study Prescribes Radio for Pharma Brands

RADIO IS EFFICIENT AND 94% AS EFFECTIVE AS TV FOR PHARMACEUTICAL

A recent Katz case study found that radio is an effective platform for pharmaceutical brands to reach receptive consumers and boost brand awareness. Now, new creative findings reported by Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group show how radio compares to other media, including television, when it comes to pharmaceutical ads.

Cumulus cites a newly released report by the omnichannel ad measurement company, ABX, which examined nearly 3,000 pharmaceutical ads from the past year across a variety of different media types. Radio averaged an ad effectiveness score of 106, placing it ahead of digital and print, and designating it 94% as effective as TV. Radio ads can provide pharmaceutical advertisers with 94% of the strength and performance of TV ads at one-fourth the CPM, making it an efficient addition to their media mix. 

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The ABX findings as well as Katz's case study prove that radio is an ideal way for pharmaceutical brands to engage prospective consumers. Radio delivers mass reach, targetability, credibility, and effectiveness - at a fraction of the cost of television.

For more information from Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Interactive Group.