As 2020 comes to an end, we’re looking back at the blog posts that resonated the most. Here are the top 5 most popular audio insights posts of the year in descending order:

5. New Study: What Listeners Want From AM/FM Radio Right Now: It is unsurprising that a major topic of interest in 2020 was how the Coronavirus impacted AM/FM listeners. In April, we conducted and released an of-the-moment study looking at what AM/FM listeners wanted from the medium. The results showed that AM/FM listeners looked to AM/FM radio for localism and they wanted what they liked – their favorite music and funny, entertaining AM/FM radio personalities. In a time where news cycles were dominated by the virus, AM/FM radio listeners were looking to AM/FM radio for normal programming.

4. Latest Nielsen PPM And Diary Data Shows AM/FM Radio’s Audience Recovery: Throughout the year, many advertisers and agencies inquired about the COVID-19 impact on AM/FM radio listening. This question was answered with the release of Nielsen’s March Portable People Meter (PPM) audience data and diary data. In the months that followed, we would publish regular updates. Nielsen’s most recent November listening data showed AM/FM radio’s resilience as it retained 97% of its reach and 94% of its average quarter-hour audience compared to March levels. Diary markets showed no impact in listening due to the pandemic.

3. Nielsen: Adding Spanish AM/FM Radio To The Media Plan Generates Significant Impact: This summer, we turned to Oliver Marquis, VP Media Analytics at Nielsen, to answer the question, “Can a general market buy with only English stations do an effective job of reaching Hispanics and Spanish speakers?” Oliver created a series of English-language-only AM/FM radio buys, selecting five top Hispanic markets and examining the reach of a 100-GRP media plan using the top 10 English language stations in each market. Then Oliver created a 90%/10%-English/Spanish AM/FM radio media plan. Using reach and frequency reports, he examined the impact in the total market and among Hispanics and Spanish-dominant Hispanics. The blog outlined his analysis which concluded that no, you cannot do an adequate job of reaching Hispanics and Spanish-dominant Hispanics unless Spanish AM/FM radio is in the media plan.

2. Seven Marketing Strategies For An Uncertain Economy: The main point of interest for 2020 was the impact of the Coronavirus on everything from the economy, advertising, the media landscape, to AM/FM radio listening. In March, when the pandemic was just beginning, we shared seven marketing strategies for an uncertain economy, hoping to give brands and advertisers some guidance during an unprecedented time. While marketing decisions were undoubtedly difficult for brands to make in 2020, a treasure trove of marketing effectiveness best practices from prior economic cycles showed advertisers how to stay relevant and protect future sales.

And our most popular post…

1. Signal Hill Insights: Podcast Advertising Drives Brand Equity For Marketers: Podcasting continues to be massive, with the IAB/PwC forecasting a $1.1 billion podcast advertising marketplace by 2021. Our most-viewed post was from August and outlined multiple podcast case studies conducted by Signal Hill Insights, a firm founded by Jeff Vidler with a strong reputation for podcast advertising brand equity measurement. Using Nielsen data, we first made the case for the importance of brand consideration and purchase intention. Then Signal Hill Insights case studies from a direct-to-consumer female personal care brand, HelloFresh, Chanel, and Talkspace all proved that podcast advertising can be a brand builder, delivering growth in awareness, favorability, consideration, and likelihood to take action.

Lauren Vetrano is Director of Content Marketing at CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.