800.275.2840 MORE NEWS» insideradio.com THE MOST TRUSTED NEWS IN RADIO THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015 Radio ‘Held Back’ by Lack of Digital Measurement. The latest findings from comScore’s Project Blueprint may trigger a few pangs of research envy among radio broadcasters. The study well quantifies how broadcast TV networks are able to gain audience by distributing their programming over multiple platforms. But while radio stations are available in multiple places, cross-platform measurement that shows the incremental audience lift from digital still hasn’t moved beyond the testing phase. The study, conducted in May 2014, was presented for the first time this past spring by the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement; CIMM collaborated on the numbers with comScore. Results showed that digital-only accounts for 4% of broadcast TV network viewing while TV in combination with digital represents 10% of viewing. Measuring the traditional broadcast viewing audience alone captures 86% of the total consumption among the advertiser-preferred demo of 18-49-year-olds. The study was unable to show a similar scenario for radio because neither comScore nor Nielsen Audio currently measures digital audio, although Nielsen is preparing to roll such a service out. “Solving this issue of combining the digital with the terrestrial is really significant,” Jane Clarke, CIMM CEO & managing director, told Inside Radio. “Radio is really underestimating their total audience and not de-duping it properly,” she added, referring to the process by which audiences only reached by a single platform are measured, which is also known as unduplicated reach. Clarke says the situation is frustrating, holding radio back from demonstrating the true size of its audience. “It’s way past the time when they should have had it,” she said. Nielsen Sees Summer Release For Digital Measurement. Back in April, Nielsen SVP of digital Jeff Wender told NAB Show attendees the company’s long-delayed digital audience measurement service was “coming very soon.” While no official launch date has been set, the latest word from company representatives narrows the premiere to sometime this summer. The launch phase will be confined to only broadcast radio streams—whatever occurs with pure-play streaming measurement won’t be part of it until a later date. And the service will initially be confined to the 48 markets measured by Nielsen’s PPM service. The digital audio measurement system employs the same MRC-accredited methodology Nielsen has been using to measure online video consumption. Clients place measurement software in the media player of their streaming app or Web browser, which captures listening data at the closest point to actual consumption. Four basic metrics will be included in the streaming audience reports, Nielsen says: Reach (number of listeners, sessions and quarter hours); Demographics (gender and age by daypart); Duration (Time spent listening); and Location (metro or DMA). Several of the largest streaming backbone providers, including Triton Digital and Wide Orbit, have integrated the software into the media players used by thousands of radio stations. A number of broadcasters are receiving preview data. SoCal So Pumped By June Revenues. The Southern California Broadcasters Association (SCBA) may not have loved the way the year started, but smiles returned to the Southland in June, as year-over-year revenues rose 1.1%. The listening base remained unchanged, but with a weekly cume of 10.5 million (according to Nielsen’s 5 am-5am Mon-Sun 12+ ratings for the Metro area), that’s still a hefty number in what is, by revenue, the largest radio market in the U.S. Another plus—listeners tuned in significantly longer per week—10 hours 15 minutes, up 15 minutes from the same measured Jan.-to-June time span a year ago. SCBA said 380 new advertisers spent $22,298,890 in the first five months of 2015, which association president Thom Callahan calls “a remarkable sign of confidence in broadcast radio.” Percentage-wise (though only through May), drug stores and pharmaceuticals were up 43.4% YTD; home furnishing advertising was up 19%; restaurants rose 15%; department/discount stores and shopping centers climbed 28.5%; [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 1 NEWS insideradio.com THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015 and real estate/retirement community ad spending grew by a gigantic 224.3%. “There’s a great story to tell,” Callahan says. “This industry is undervalued.” New Investor Buys Into Connoisseur Growth Potential. Connoisseur Media seems set for more station acquisitions, thanks to a new investment partner that’s now on board. Petrus Holding Company, the investment firm run by the family of Ross Perot, Jr., has bought a substantial stake in the company from Farallon Capital Management and Balance Point Capital Partners. Connoisseur’s management team, including CEO Jeff Warshaw, will continue to operate the stations. Warshaw says Connoisseur needed a partner with “a long-term vision and committed capital,” in order to grow. He sees Petrus’ investment in radio as another positive sign for the industry, adding that the timing of the move could be beneficial, especially if more stations come on the block. “The industry is substantially over-leveraged and hitting operational challenges,” Warshaw says. Those two factors will cause the inventory of available stations to rise, he believes. “We expect to be substantially larger than we are today,” he says. Started from scratch with 10 construction permits in 2005, Westport, CT- based Connoisseur has quickly grown to 42 radio stations in 12 markets. Warshaw estimates the company’s cash flow has grown by a multiple of 10 during the past three years. Connoisseur has a strong presence in the “Golden Ring” market surrounding New York City, including Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. Perot Companies chairman, Ross Perot, Jr., says the deal “will allow Connoisseur to continue investing in its people while ensuring it can remain prudently financed, locally focused and innovative.” “We believe in the enduring importance of radio, which continues to be the media with the greatest reach among adults,” Petrus Holding Company president Steve Blasnik says, adding that Petrus “jumped at the opportunity” to invest in Connoisseur. Mobile Audio Hits Listener Record. The online audio industry hit a milestone in May as more than 75% of audio-stream listening now occurs on mobile devices, with less than 24% taking place on desktops. That’s up from a 72-28 split as recently as January, according to new data from Triton Digital. The migration of users to mobile devices continues to fuel dramatic gains in online listening. The number of Average Active Sessions during the Monday-Friday, 6am-8pm daypart soared 40.5% in May, compared to one year earlier, topping 4.24 million. The percentage growth was even higher in the broader Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight daypart, surging 42.5% to 3.58 million. Broadcasters with the largest year-over-year gains were iHeartMedia, ESPN Radio, Univision, Salem Communications and Beasley Media Group. Pandora remains far out in front of the pack, followed by Spotify in second, with iHeart third. Apple’s iOS remains the preferred operating system for audio streaming, capturing 38% of consumption, with Android in second at 31%. No other device came close—“other” ranked third at 11%, followed by Flash player (8%) and Google Chrome (7%). Geographically speaking, Miami led all U.S. markets for the largest monthly listening gain with a 10.7% increase in Average Active Sessions (Monday-Friday, 6am-8pm) in May, followed by Los Angeles (7.4%), San Francisco (5.7%), Houston (4.3%) and Cleveland (3.6%). Read Triton’s May Webcast Metrics report HERE. In Major Reorganization, Hendrich Will Run CMG Radio. Cox Media Group has promoted Jacksonville radio VP and general manager Bill Hendrich to EVP of Radio and CMG Research under a major management reorganization. Hendrich succeeds Kim Guthrie who will now be EVP of National Ad Platforms and president of TV rep firm Cox Reps. Also as part of the restructuring, Marian Pittman will be EVP of Digital Strategy. The new appointments follow the retirement of CoxReps president Jim Monahan after 35 years with the company. Hendrich will relocate from Jacksonville to Atlanta, running the company’s radio division out of CMG headquarters. He joined Cox in 1996 in Orlando where he managed its radio cluster as VP/GM for a decade. In March 2006, he transferred [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 2 NEWS insideradio.com THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015 to the same position in Jacksonville. Based in New York, Guthrie will oversee all of CMG’s television advertising platform businesses, including CoxReps, Videa and Gamut. Cox says she has long overseen TV markets in her management roles, in addition to her radio markets. Guthrie began her broadcasting career as a TV news reporter and anchor. Pittman, whose background is in news and TV station management, most recently was VP of news and marketing for television. She now oversees CMG’s digital strategy, content and sales efforts, succeeding Neil Johnston who was recently named EVP/CFO for Cox Automotive. Pittman’s division will also include CMG’s Digital Content Desk, Fans First Media and the Washington DC News Bureau. Susan Larkin, VP/GM of the company’s Orlando radio cluster, has been promoted to regional VP of Jacksonville and Orlando radio, adding the Jacksonville market to her purview. Newest Research Has Radio Floating On “Ear.” The latest figures from Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” study point to continued dominance by AM/FM radio among all hours devoted to audio. The company’s Q2 numbers show over 52% of total listeners access audio by radio. In addition, while 15% listen to their own music, 6% of users listen to tunes from YouTube music videos—the same percentage that access SiriusXM Radio and Pandora.