Quarter after quarter, Nielsen’s Total Audience Report reveals AM/FM radio is America’s number one mass reach media. It’s bigger than social, bigger than TV, and bigger than smartphones. Why is this important to advertisers? A major new study and an influential marketing book widely read among CMOs and brand managers explains why reach is so important.

Though search costs continue to rise, AM/FM radio remains a stable and effective alternative for advertisers looking to make an impact. It generates strong inceases in customers, digital impact, and impressive ROI.

Westwood One, America’s largest radio network, is rolling out NextRadio as the first interactive audience measurement tool for over-the-air FM radio advertising campaigns. Westwood One’s NextRadio solution will deliver consumer insights and intelligence that optimizes campaigns and proves ROI to national advertisers.

AM/FM radio can enhance and grow digital marketing efforts. Here’s a summary of three different case studies illustrating the impact radio creates for digital including increased website interest and visitation and significant sales conversion.

Westwood One is the first radio company to launch a data management platform with the Nielsen Marketing Cloud. For the first time in the history of radio, over the air AM/FM radio listening is now directly connected with consumer purchase data.

AM/FM radio audiences deliver exactly what is promised: ads are heard. TV and other media measurement over-count and inflate audiences. AM/FM radio’s audience measurement system, the Portable People Meter, hears what the consumer hears. The radio listener is more likely to hear a commercial than the TV audience is to "see" a TV ad.

Since two-thirds of Pandora’s listening occurs at home, Pandora suffers from “empty room syndrome.” The ads are on, but no one is there to hear them. So they optimize timeouts, sending that, "Are you still listening?" message more often to demos they cannot sell. Desireable demos like Millennials? It's a different story.