Terrestrial radio is the highest reaching media platform. According to Nielsen, in Q1 2018, radio reached 92% of Adults 18+ in the U.S. each week. Radio has long been known as the mobile medium, reaching people at home, at work, in cars – basically anywhere. Radio has always been a cost-effective major medium that efficiently maximizes reach and frequency. Now, with the increase in mobile devices radio – audio is evolving and becoming stronger. Audio has the ability to evoke a more emotional one-on-one connection, provide a call to action and cut through ad clutter.

Currently, over 77% of the U.S. population has smartphones, one in five households have smart speakers and over 200 models of cars have at least one streaming service built-in and these numbers are all growing! Pandora reported triple-digit growth over the past six years.

As consumers move from touch to voice-activated devices, audio consumption is getting even easier. You can tell Alexa to play a song list on Pandora, play a local radio station or play a podcast. Smart speaker owners report listening to more audios with their smart speakers. Music isn’t the only growing part of this evolution. Consumers are also tuning their ears to NPR and podcasts. NPR reports the highest ratings ever this year and Apple reported going from 7 billion podcast downloads in 2014 to 50 billion podcast downloads in March 2018. Digital growth has brought audio to consumers in an easier – anywhere and anytime format. Now, more than ever, advertisers must listen to the consumers.