Research data from several sources give AM/FM radio coverage of the NCAA’s annual March Madness college basketball tournament the edge over TV, according to an analysis in Westwood One’s weekly blog.
“While NCAA March Madness games are available both on TV and AM/FM radio, each broadcast has a very different audience profile,” Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard says. “Greater passion and engagement in AM/FM radio play-by-play broadcasts mean a more attentive audience and an outstanding programming environment for marketers and brands.”
Citing findings from a MARU/Matchbox study among more than 900 persons age 18+, the blog notes that compared to the overall NCAA audience, its audio listeners are significantly more likely to either currently attend or have graduated from a college that typically plays in the NCAA basketball tournament, to rate themselves at the highest level of tournament fandom, to follow the Tournament through to the Final, and to mute the NCAA Tournament on TV to hear AM/FM’s coverage of the games. Additionally, they follow a higher number of NCAA Tournament games.
“On each measure, MARU/Matchbox reports the AM/FM radio NCAA March Madness play-by-play audience is more engaged and passionate about the tournament than the overall audience,” Bouvard says.
Head-to-head against TV, MRI-Simmons’ research shows that listeners to March Madness coverage on AM/FM radio have a lower median age (47 vs. 53) and higher median household income ($125k vs. $114k), and are more likely to be employed full-time (57% vs. 50%), to have a household size of three people or more (61% vs. 49%), and to have one or more children at home (39% vs. 31%).
Across the board, according to MRI-Simmons, listeners of the NCAA basketball tournament on AM/FM radio score higher than TV viewers when it comes to their level of engagement with, and passion for, college basketball and sports in general. They’re 76% more likely to attend any sports events, and 75% more likely to have placed bets on sports or fantasy sports in the past 12 months.
Perhaps most important for advertisers, March Madness’ AM/FM radio listeners outscore its TV viewers in terms of making key purchases. “Whether kitchen remodeling, vehicle leasing, or purchasing a laptop, tablet, or smartwatch, the NCAA AM/FM radio audience is more likely to be in market than the March Madness TV audience,” Bouvard says.
Those AM/FM listeners also show a greater likelihood of influencing other consumers when it comes to product categories such as restaurants, health care, vacation travel, alcoholic beverages, and movies and TV shows.
As to reach, Nielsen’s analysis shows that NCAA basketball’s play-by-play radio audience steadily builds throughout the season, hitting 5.6 million in week 10 and growing 28% during the four weeks of March, when the listening audience ranges from 15.9 to 20.3 million. MARU/Matchbox’s research finds that the audio coverage reaches 30% of March Madness fans and 44% of persons 18-34, and, not surprisingly, reaches significantly more fans in cars, at work, or in another place aside from home.
Note to advertisers: MARU also shows that a buy adding audio coverage of March Madness to TV lifts incremental reach and generates amplified frequency.