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Radio Increases Year-Over-Year Reach by More Than 1.2 Million, According to March 2014 RADAR Report

3 minute read | March 2014

Radio Now Reaches 244.4 Million People Aged 12+ During an Average Week

NEW YORK – March 10, 2014 – Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, today released highlights from the March 2014 RADAR® 120 National Radio Listening Report. According to the report, the total U.S. radio audience has increased by more than 1.2 million weekly listeners since March 2013, and now reaches 244.4 million Americans on an average weekly basis – 92 percent of the total U.S. population ages 12 and older. Daily time spent listening among radio listeners ages 12 and up now averages approximately 2 hours and 41 minutes a day, holding steady from the previous year.

Radio Continues to Increase its Reach

Radio increased its national reach again according to this survey, adding more than a million listeners on a weekly basis in the March 2014 RADAR report.

RADAR March 2010 March 2011 March 2012 March 2013 March 2014
RELEASE RADAR 104 RADAR 108 RADAR 112 RADAR 116 RADAR 120
WEEKLY CUME (000) 239,769 241,923 241,512 243,177 244,457
All Radio Listening, P12+, Mon-Sun 12M-12M*
Source: Nielsen

Listeners of All Ages and Ethnicities use Radio

According to the March 2014 RADAR report, the national audience aged 18 to 34 grew by more than half a million compared to the previous year, reaching 91.9 percent of all 18 to 34 year-olds.

Radio’s national reach also increased among African-American and Hispanic audiences, compared to the previous year. Radio now reaches more than 31 million African-American listeners ages 12 and older in an average week, or 91.7 percent of the total U.S. African-American population.

Hispanic audiences grew by more than half a million (574,000) listeners, meaning radio now reaches 93.6 percent of all Hispanics in the U.S. ages 12 and older in an average week. The increase among Hispanics was spread evenly among those demographics aged 18 to 34 (added 286,000 more listeners), 18 to 49 (298,000 more listeners) and 25 to 54 (243,000 more listeners).

*Please note that this release will be the first time Nielsen reports the findings based on the Mon-Sun 12M-12M daypart; past RADAR press releases used the Mon-Sun 6A-12M daypart. This change was made in an effort to present a more complete picture of the total possible audience. As a result of this change, historical comparisons or trends based on past RADAR press releases should not be made.

About The RADAR March 2014 Report

Nielsen’s RADAR (Radio’s All Dimension Audience Research) March 2014 Report is the standard currency for national network radio ratings and measures 46 individual radio networks. These networks are operated by AdLarge Media, American Urban Radio Networks, Crystal Media Networks, Cumulus Media Networks, Premiere Networks, United Stations Radio Networks and WestwoodOne.

The sample size for the RADAR March 2014 Report is 396,031 persons aged 12 and older. This sample is designed to provide stability for key demographic estimates, dayparts, and Market-by-Market Analysis reports, which report all individual DMAs®.

The RADAR March 2014 Report includes data from all 48 Nielsen PPM® markets. The survey period for RADAR 120 covers Jan. 3, 2013 to Dec. 4, 2013.

The Company has developed the Portable People Meter™ (PPM) and the PPM 360™, new technologies for media and marketing research.

Portable People Meter, PPM, and PPM 360 are marks of Arbitron Inc.

RADAR is a registered trademark of Arbitron Inc. DMA is a registered trademark of The Nielsen Co. (US) LLC.

PPM ratings are based on audience estimates and are the opinion of Nielsen and should not be relied on for precise accuracy or precise representativeness of a demographic or radio market.

ABOUT NIELSEN

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA, and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

Press Contact:

Jon Miller, jon.miller@nielsen.com, 410-794-2665