online radio advertising

Perceptions of Online Radio Station Managers Regarding

Advertising

EFSEVEIA KATSOULIERI

Purpose of the study

Exploratory Research

Advertising on Online Radio Stations as perceived by Managers and Owners of

Web Radios

At a time of turbulence, radio provides an enduring platform to bring communities together. On the way to work, in our homes, offices and fields, in times of peace, conflict and emergencies, radio

remains a crucial source of information and knowledge.

Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO(12th February 2017)

RADIO BACKGROUND1920: Telegraphy for international and maritime messages rather than as mass

broadcasting

1998

12% of all Americans had listened for at least one time an

online radio station

2000

5,009 AM Stations8,298 FM Stations

2010

33 Million Listeners

Sterling and Kittross (2001)Radio Spectrum Policy Group (2010)

RADIO BACKGROUND

Arbitron and Edison Media Research (2008)XAPP Media Report (2015)

2014

ü 30 billion listening hours (USA)

ü 42.7% expected growth over a three-

year period

2016

“Digital Switchover” in

Europe

ONLINE RADIO

2016 - USØ 155m Listeners/Month Ø 136m Listeners/Week

Ø 2018: 183m Listeners/Month

Media Reach Weekly79% of 12-24 65% of 25-54

XAPP Media Report (2015)Edison Research and Triton Digital (2016)

ONLINE RADIO ADVERTISINGInteractive Advertising Bureau (2016)Radio Advertising Bureau (2015)

v Advertising Revenues (USA, 2015): $59.6 bn• Q3: $14.7 bn• Q4: $17.5 bn

v 20.4% Growth from 2014 to 2015

v 15% of publishers choose Internet Radio Advertising


Top Radio Spot Categories

• Auto Dealers and Rentals• Communications Services

• Financial Services • Health Care Services

Top Spenders

• Walmart• Verizon Wireless

• Hyundai • Burger King


v 9 to 20 spots/hour

v 3 minute blocks

v Rates based on:• Day Part• Time • Seasonality of Demand• Seasonality of Offer


Types of Radio Commercials

Ø JinglesØ Live CommercialØ Public Service AnnouncementØ DramaØ HumorØ Informative AdvertisementØ Combination

Research Questions

RQ 1: What are the characteristics of professional radio station managers?Age, gender, years of broadcasting experience, employment status and education level

RQ 2 : What are the characteristics of professional online radio stations?Years of active broadcasting, location of the station, staff and show hosts involved, revenue estimation

RQ 3 : Is the country of broadcasting related with differences on the managers’ perceptions?Policies on broadcasting, fees on music rights and availability of certain music platforms vary from country to country

Research Questions

RQ 4: Could the gender of the manager be related with differences on the managers’ perceptions?Studies have shown differences in leadership styles and gender characteristics related to job performance (Roth, Purvis & Bobko, 2010)

RQ 5 : Is the employment status of the manager related with differences on his/her perceptions?Differences of job satisfaction between self employed and employees (Millán, Hessels, Thurik & Aguado, 2011)

RQ 6 : Are radio stations of different revenue estimation per month statistically different?

Methodology Ø Exploratory

Ø Quantitative • Construction of an Online Questionnaire• Distributed with SurveyMonkey links• Analyzed with SPSS v.23

Methodology + Less expensive + Less time consuming

than interviews+ Easy To distribute

(Kumar, 1999)

- Low response rate- Difficulty to clarify the

questions during the survey(Berenson, Levine &

Krehbiel, 2001)

Why was the Questionnaire chosen?

Methodology

Questionnaire Design

Thematic Sections

1. Radio Station’s Characteristics 2. Radio Advertising on the Online Radios3. Ways of Approaching Advertising 4. Perceptions of the Advertisers’ Perspective on a new

commercial 5. Perceptions of the Radio Stations’ Perspective on a

new commercial 6. Revenue Streams for an Online Radio Station 7. Promotion Tools Used 8. Perceived Competition in the Music Broadcasting

Industry

Demographics of the Respondents

Radio Station’s Characteristics

ü Type of Contentü Years of Broadcasting ü Country of Operationü Number of staffü Number of Show Hostsü Monthly Revenue

Estimation

Nominal & Ratio Scales

Radio Advertising on the Online Radios

ü Type of Advertising

ü Number of paid spots weekly

ü PSAs Broadcasting

Nominal & Ratio Scale

Ways of Approaching Advertising

Attitudes of Radio Managers

5-point Likert Scale

Perceptions of the Advertisers’ Perspective on a new commercial


Importance of radio station’s characteristics

Perceptions of the Radio Stations’ Perspective on a new commercial


Importance of requirements

Revenue Streams for an Online Radio Station


Frequency of Selecting Alternative revenue streams

Marketing Strategies Used

Nominal Scale

Which tactics do managers use as to promote their station?

Perceived Competition in the Music Broadcasting Industry

Ordinal Scale

Competition Ranking

Demographic Questions

Nominal Scale & Ratio Scale

ü Gender ü Ageü Level of educationü Employment statusü Years of broadcasting experience

Methodology Participant Qualifications

a) Either have the ownership of an online radio station or be managers with experience in online radio stations.

b) Agree to participate in this study

c) Complete the whole questionnaire as to consider it valid

Methodology v Convenience SamplingDistributed Online at:• Radiojar Newsletter & Social Media Platforms• Radio- Related Forums • Facebook and LinkedIn Groups

Ø 154 Respondents (76% Full Response Rate)

Data Analysis

• SPSS v. 23• Excel v.15

Statistical Analyses:

Ø Descriptive Statistics: Sample Profile

Ø Independent-samples T-tests

Radio Manager’s Profile

q Males (83,8%)q Owners of at least one radio station (60,4%)q Bachelor graduates (81,7%) q Employed: 50% | Self-Employed: 47% | Retired: 3%

Radio Stations’ Profile

q 4 to 10 years (50%) –1 to 2 years (25%)

q Up to 5 Admins (95%)q 8 to 15 show hosts

(46.1 %)q 11 stations with no

shows q 69.5% have paid

commercials


q 73.8% make offers to companies directly

q 60% is negative on approaching advertising agencies

q 68.2% have a positive attitude on business while networking

Taking offers from advertising agencies


Positive Agreement with all statements

Perceptions of Managers on the advertiser's perspective when making a deal

Perceptions of Managers on the radio station's perspective when making a deal

Alternative Revenue Streams

ü 51.6% use buy URL on website

ü 25.5% use buy URL on application

ü 73.2% do not use any banner advertising

ü 50% use advertising visuals on the player

ü 23.5% use in-show product placement

ü 17% co-create content

ü 15.7% curate events

Results

Marketing Strategies for Promoting the Station

ü 51% of stations use a website

ü 52% have a dedicated mobile application

ü 55% can be found on a music directory

ü 22.2% offer media sponsorship

ü 28.5% curate promotional events

ü 25% use social media marketing

! 2.6% do not use any type of marketing

Results

Competition in the Broadcasting Industry

1. Web TV channels

2. Streaming Services, e.g. Spotify/Pandora

3. Terrestrial radio stations (FM/AM)

4. TV

5. Online Radio Stations

6. Directories, e.g TuneIn/ e-radio

Results

Country and Radio Advertising

Country and Radio Advertising

Music category

Accepting offers & Making offers directly to companies

Website and Media Sponsorships

Loyal listeners’ base and Personal relationships

Using visuals and buy URLs on app

Various genre

Making offers to advertisers

Getting listed in directoriesLocal niche of listeners, Reliability of Reporting and Gaining experience

Using buy URLs on website, banners & in-show product placement

Manager’s Gender and Radio Advertising

♀ Locality of listeners♀ Third Party Company Manager

♂ Visuals on Player♂ Buy URLs on Mobile App♂ Co-create Content♂ Event Organizing

Managers’ Employment Status and Radio Advertising

Employed for Wagesü Making offers to advertisers &

Letting the show hosts makingads decisions

ü Locality of listeners & PersonalRelationships

ü Visuals on Player, Co-create Content & Organizing events

Self Employedü Music Only

ü Reliability of Reporting

ü Website & Social Media Marketing

Revenue Estimation of the Station and Radio Advertising

2501 – 5000$Third party service managing the advertising

Importance of loyal listeners

Organizing Commercial Events

More than 5001$Importance of Reliable reporting

Use of visuals

0 - 1000$Advertising Experience

Use of Website Buy URLs & in-show Product Placement

1001 – 2500$Use of Radio promos

Importance of loyal listeners & local listeners

Use of Application Buy URLs

Conclusions

Ø Difference of Top Categories: Online Radio vs Terrestrial

Ø Perceptions of Competition

Ø Gender of Manager

Ø Spending Power of the Radio Station

Ø Exploratory research

Ø Time and budget constraints

Ø Relatively small sample (N=154)

Ø May not be applicable in related business sectors

Limitations of the Research

Ø More countries involved

Ø Correlation in the perceptions between online radios, digital radios & podcasts professionals

Ø Priorities of advertisers and third party companies

Future Research Proposals

Thank you!