Nick Young is NOVA Entertainment’s Chief Commercial Officer
For the last ten years the movement of audiences from traditional media platforms to digital has generally been at the expense of the core asset. The businesses of TV and Publishing have been at the forefront of managing this transition, so much so that it has almost become a fait accompli for all media to follow this process. But when it comes to the business of audio, this has become one of our unmatched and compelling differentiators – the ability to maintain growth across our traditional core asset of FM and DAB+ radio, whilst harnessing the growth in demand of streaming and podcasting.
Radio listening continues to be a favourable form of audio consumption, with 81% of Australian’s 10+ listening to commercial radio each week across the five metro cities. Commercial radio alone received another great result this survey with 850,000 YOY growth in weekly listeners, and 87% of commercial stations increasing in cumulative audiences compared to survey 6 last year.*
Complementing the increase in listenership is the ongoing evolution of the conscious consumer and today’s highly mobile society. The explosion of connected cars, smart speakers and on the go listening proves that audio is still enjoying a resurgence with no signs of slowing. The growth advantage of digital in audio consumption doesn’t just lie in its expanded accessibility for audiences and advertisers, but in the differentiating ability to offer a variety of audio experiences. Whether it be through podcasting, streaming or broadcast, the Australian consumer is actively prioritising audio connections during moments throughout their day to help entertain, motivate, educate, and distract.
NOVA Entertainment’s investment in digitisation has provided local and national brand partners access to engaged audiences, in content rich intimate settings within podcasting and streaming but crucially not at the expense of our proven analogue media channels. Echoing the wider audio industry, NOVA Entertainment is capitalising on the growth, and was recently seen in the recent survey, with NOVA Entertainment posting the highest ratings to date, reaching over 6.3 million people per week across Nova and Smooth FM broadcast channels and DAB.*
A significant driver that’s future proofing NOVA’s vision to embrace all of audio is the innovation and investment across the core assets of broadcast and DAB, as seen with the recent national launch of Smooth FM. Building awareness around the shift from a singular FM station band to a DAB+ platform has been at the core of our marketing education piece. Ensuring Smooth FM be accessible via DAB+ enabled radio devices, allows us to commit to a robust all of audio solution, with a listener first approach.
Smooth FM has spent the last ten years establishing itself as the first Australian radio station to be programmed based on a mood rather than an era or genre, with a playlist curated to make listeners ‘feel good’ and announcers handpicked to complement the music format. With its winning formula of more music and less talk, the extraordinary success to date has focused on delivering advertisers an audience that’s highly engaged, through a platform that brings high attention, cut through and recall. In a recent study, we found that 87% of Smooth FM listeners took action after hearing an ad, and almost 60% stated they could recall a brand they’d heard advertised over the course of the day.**
After the steady success of Smooth FM across Sydney and Melbourne, in September this year, Smooth FM extended its reach across Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Now delivering a truly national opportunity for brands at scale, in addition, each market has its own local, trusted breakfast show and news departments, tapping into audiences not only for the morning, but across multiple devices and moments throughout the day.
An additional factor in the success of Smooth FM is the synergy between our trusted local weekday and weekend announcers and the listener. Its personable and influential and our commitment to preserving these qualities is imperative to the continued success of the brand. Smooth FM listeners deem radio talent as the most trustworthy, authentic and engaging. With 82% of listeners tuning into Smooth FM for the music, we know our elevated programming experience, now available nationally, will continue to connect brands with invaluable audiences.***
Smooth FM now delivers the scale of a five station buy for advertisers with the adaptability to still be relevant on a local level. Combined with the powerful foundations trust, credibility and a brand safe environment, Smooth FM offers accessibility through Digital Audio, meeting the consumer no matter where they are. When it comes to extending impact for brand partners, we’re continuing our focus on mobilising solutions to effortlessly reach large scale audiences through combined NOVA Entertainment channels.
As digital growth continues at pace and with audiences’ growth and consumption behaviours firmly in the driver’s seat, we can expect to see this rippling effect impact commercial growth across the audio landscape and there has never been a better time for advertisers to invest in this medium.
Sources:
*Source: GfK Radio Ratings, SMBAP S6 2022 compared with S6 2021, Commercial Stations (Simulcast & DAB+), Cume (000s), 12mn-12mn, AP10+; ^ Cume %, *AM/FM Stations
**NOVA Entertainment Brand & Talent Study, 2022
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