This afternoon, Nielsen held a client webinar to review key insights from just-released AM/FM radio audience data for May diary surveys and June Portable People Meter markets. Nielsen also revealed findings from their third monthly tracking study of consumer sentiment and purchase intentions fielded June 22-24.

Here is what you need to know:

• PPM AM/FM radio audience recovery continues: For the third month, AM/FM radio listening is on the rise across demographics and dayparts in Portable People Meter markets.
• Diary markets audiences remain steady: Medium and smaller diary market audiences continue to be exceptionally stable throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
• Out-of-home listening surges: More time spent working out of home and more time spent in the car power increased AM/FM radio listening.
• Recovery sentiment stable: Half of consumers say they are “ready to go” and resuming normal activity, stable from the prior month. The lack of growth suggests wariness over current virus surge.
• AM/FM radio is the soundtrack of America’s reemergence: While some states are pausing reopening, heavy AM/FM radio listeners are more likely to work outside the home and are the key to the reopening of the economy.

AM/FM radio listeners are spending more time on the road, increasing listening levels

A variety of data sources reveal Americans are spending more time on the road. Geopath, the outdoor audience measurement service, reports a massive recovery in weekly miles traveled. As of mid-June, in all U.S. markets, miles traveled volumes match or exceed the prior year.

Apple Maps reveals driving search requests now exceed pre-COVID-19 levels while public transit shows little improvement. For the foreseeable future, driving volumes will balloon, a net positive for AM/FM radio as Americans avoid public transportation.

U.S. driving volumes for the week of June 22-28 are up +157% compared to the first week of April, according to Apple. Public transit usage is half of pre-COVID-19 usage volumes.

Nielsen’s most-recent study finds more people are working outside of the home and spending more time in a car. This has led to continued growth of AM/FM radio audiences.

Out-of-home AM/FM radio listening recovers

The out-of-home share of AM/FM radio listening in PPM markets has improved from 58% in April to 68% in June. The share of out-of-home listening in June (68%) is very close to March’s levels (71%). Even at the height of the shelter-at-home period in April, the majority of AM/FM radio listening was still occurring away from home.

PPM markets: June AQH retains 87% of March listening

According to Geopath, PPM markets in the top 50 markets saw significant miles traveled reductions in April, which have strongly recovered in May and June. Compared to March PPM AQH, April listening was 72% of the prior month. Since then, AQH listening has steadily improved. The PPM AQH retention index has grown in May (80%) and again in June (87%).

Most of the PPM markets have recovered to nearly 90% of their March AQH listening levels.

AM/FM radio listening in diary markets is steady

Geopath miles traveled data in the medium markets where diary measurement occurs showed much less of an impact in traffic volumes. As such, there has been no change in diary markets listening levels. Nielsen reports March/April/May AQH listening in their continuous diary measurement markets are 97% of the prior January-February-March AQH.

Comparing the diary market March/April/May AQH audience levels to January/February/March reveals that most markets have retained virtually all of their listening.

More consumers feel stores are reopening and safety and normalization attitudes stabilize

Nielsen’s third monthly consumer sentiment tracker shows a massive increase in store reopening perceptions. However, attitudes about safety and normalization are flat in June after a huge increase from April to May. It is clear that the current virus surge in much of the country has caused consumers to temper the growth of normalization sentiment.

Despite the pause in the growth of normalization momentum, over half of America remains in Nielsen’s “ready to go” segment, the most optimistic consumer group.

Compared to heavy TV viewers, heavy AM/FM radio listeners are far more likely to spend across a large array of consumer categories

Heavy AM/FM radio listeners come from households that are far more likely to work and have kids than heavy TV viewer homes. Nielsen’s new consumer study reveals spending intentions are much stronger among heavy AM/FM radio listeners.

Key takeaways:

• PPM AM/FM radio audience recovery continues: For the third month, AM/FM radio listening is on the rise across demographics and dayparts in Portable People Meter markets.
• Diary markets audiences remain steady: Medium and smaller diary market audiences continue to be exceptionally stable throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
• Out-of-home listening surges: More time spent working out of home and more time spent in the car power increased AM/FM radio listening.
• Recovery sentiment stable: Half of consumers say they are “ready to go” and resuming normal activity, stable from the prior month. The lack of growth suggests wariness over current virus surge.
• AM/FM radio is the soundtrack of America’s reemergence: While some states are pausing reopening, heavy AM/FM radio listeners are more likely to work outside the home and are the key to the reopening of the economy.

Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer at CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.