Is radio’s audience really ageing?

Welcome to a midweek edition of Unmade. Today: Should we believe the radio ratings that more young people are listening now than a decade ago? And Nine edges back above a $2bn market cap.

Are the kids turning away from radio? Not according to the ratings. But are the ratings wrong?
Back in April, we saw the beginning of a mini phenomenon.
Former Southern Cross Austereo content boss Craig Bruce rebooted his 2020 podcast Game Changers Radio to start tracking the arrival of The Kyle & Jackie O Show into Melbourne on Kiis FM.
From a retrospective series featuring interviews with great radio practitioners, the rebooted Melbourne Radio Wars became of-the moment, capturing the twists and turns of Australia’s radio story of the decade.

Are the kids turning away from radio? The data might suggest otherwise, but the real question is whether traditional (diary-based) measurement systems are still reliable in capturing today’s fragmented audiences.
In an increasingly complex media landscape, outdated methodologies often fail to keep up. Passive cross-media measurement, like single-source mobile panels, is the future. Calling panel-based measurement ‘guesswork’ oversimplifies the innovation in this space, in my view.
By delivering precise, single-source passive tracking audience measurement across radio, TV, CTV, radio, and digital, marketers are empowered with actionable data advertisers need to make informed decisions. Guesswork is out—the passive deterministic evolution is in.
Thanks for the comment Daniel – I’ll be fascinated to see how the work that your company Beatgrid is doing for Foxtel Media unfolds.
All the best
Tim – Unmade