How the new Radio 360 radio ratings model works and why it matters
Industry body Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) has officially launched Radio 360, the new audience measurement system six years in the making, with GfK’s release of the third metro radio survey of the year today.
The revamped survey introduces streaming audiences for each radio station listed in the survey alongside total and broadcast audience figures, enabling a rank of networks and stations according to the new metric.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the new system in 2024 will integrate podcast metrics to provide a deduplicated view of radio and podcast audiences, as well as the release of special reports based on real-time monitoring.
CRA indicated that this marks the transition to a “sophisticated new hybrid measurement system” that will provide “accurate and granular information on radio listening across all platforms and devices, anywhere, anytime”.
Ciaran Davis, chair of industry body Commercial Radio & Audio and CEO of ARN Media, said: “With one in four Australians now streaming live radio on a weekly basis, we are at the start of a broad, positive shift to digital listening.
“We are proud we now have a measurement system that allows us to demonstrate the reach and influence of radio on all platforms, supports our ambitions to become a much bigger player in the digital audio advertising space and is built to meet future needs.”
Ennals
CRA CEO Ford Ennals added: “We hope Radio360 will encourage advertisers to allocate more of their digital and audio spend to Australian radio. We have independently verified measurement – something many of the big tech players still don’t offer – and radio delivers both scale and targeted audiences.”
Developed by GfK, the new system draws from 50,000 surveys, streaming data from radio station web players, listening apps and server logs, and a panel of 2,000 respondents wearing the GfK MediaWatch. This wearable meter automatically captures listening information when the wearer is in hearing range of a radio station.
However, watch data is not directly integrated into the currency at launch but will support the creation of special reports based on real-time monitoring from 2024. The number of surveys will remain the same each year.
The new radio measurement system came after the TV industry launched the much-anticipated Total TV measurement system Virtual OZ last month.
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Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
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Darcy, it’s a meter, not metre, which is a unit of length.
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Hi Mitch,
Thanks for picking that up, force of habit, it’s been updated now.
Cheers,
Darcy
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