Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) livestreaming audience has reached new records during the pandemic, despite expectations radio listening would decline.
Unique audience for radio livestreaming was up 58% year-on-year in September, reaching 1.5 million unique listeners, according to Adswizz Audiometrix. Hit and Triple M had a 27% increase year-on-year in active live radio streams, reaching a record 9.1 million.
SCA’s total listening hours also hit a new record of 10.5 million in September.
“Our digital audio listening and live radio streaming is the fastest growing ad platform in the market right now and continues to break listening records and record extraordinary growth, demonstrating the strength of digital audio,” says SCA chief sales officer Brian Gallagher.
“As a growing and addressable channel with a loyal and engaged audience, now is the time to tap into this exceptionally effective channel.”
Radio listenership across Australia during the pandemic defied expectations that it would decline due to the loss of people’s daily commute. However, smart speaker and desktop usage are growing, with smart speaker listening up 66% to 2.3 million listening hours in September with an average session duration of two hours and 26 minutes.
“We urge advertisers to take advantage of this rapid listener behaviour shift and the growing popularity of radio products in the connected home,” Gallagher says.
“We expect this growth to continue as Australian homes around the country are all embarking on a ‘connected makeover’ journey.”
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