Australians have turned to live radio streaming and audio on demand during the coronavirus lockdown.
At Southern Cross, daily live radio streams have grown 21% and weekday listening hours have increased by 19% in the ten weeks since March 9 when COVID-19 restrictions began.
"Audio has proven to be a key companion choice as people work from home to stay updated, informed and entertained," says Southern Cross chief sales officer Brian Gallagher.
Smart speaker live radio streaming is up 28.8%, hitting a peak of 2 million listening hours in April. And 21% of all SCA live radio streaming occurs on a smart speaker.
Live radio streaming on mobiles and tablets is up 8.3% and is 28.2% higher on desktops and laptops .
Southern Cross' PodcastOne Australia podcasting downloads are up 49% from February to April.
Catch up radio podcasts have seen a 16% increase in downloads since April 12.
SoundCloud Australian listeners are up by 43% since February and total listening hours on desktop is up 30% month on month.
Last month, SCA’s Triple M and Hit networks’ special ANZAC Day live commemorative service broadcast across 98 stations recorded record live streaming audiences with 480,000 active streams and 270,000 listening hours.
“As feelings of anxiety are starting to be replaced by optimism as restrictions ease, audiences are settling into their new routines, choosing SCA as their entertainment destination and companion," says Gallagher.
"We expected this listening behaviour to continue and have again broken previous all-time listening records.
“The new Infinite Dial Australia report, with research conducted prior to the pandemic, shows a clear trend with radio show live streaming, podcasting and smart speakers continuing to grow.
"Time spent listening to audio is also up to more than 12 and a half hours a week on a range of devices and would be more so during COVID-19."
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