TargetSpot issues multicultural digital audio studies

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TargetSpotTargetSpot, the largest digital audio advertising network, released results of the industry’s first multicultural Digital Audio studies. Conducted by Parks Associates, the reports unveil key insights about the Hispanic and African American audiences and their interaction with Internet Radio. Highlights include the growing role of connected devices in facilitating listening, the increase in social interactions while listening, and extremely high advertising recall and response rates, well beyond the click.


With Digital Audio listenership spanning to 42% of the US population, audience make-up is now quite established — the majority of listeners are married and own their own homes, many have children, and this audience also has significant purchasing power. The Hispanic and African American Digital Audio listeners are highly desirable. The African American audience is 56% male and 44% female; 43% own their own home; 31% are married and 43% are households with kids. The Hispanic audience is 55% male and 45% female; 46% own their own home; 44% are married and 54% are households with kids.

The study showed that African American and Hispanic Digital Audio listeners are more mobile and connected than the general population. Specifically, African Americans and Hispanics listen more on tablets than the general population – among owners of these devices, 85% of African Americans and 75% of Hispanics listen on tablets as compared to 73% of the general population. The same is true when it comes to mobile phone and in-car listening. 70% of Hispanic and 60% of African American listeners tune in via mobile phones compared to 55% of the general population. And, 95% of African Americans and 91% of Hispanics tune in digitally in their vehicles, versus 86% of the general population.

Hispanic and African American Digital Audio consumption is significant and consistent with that of the general population. Nearly 80% of Hispanics listen to Internet Radio 1-3 hours per day, and this audience’s listening day is in keeping with that of the general population, spanning between 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. The vast majority of African Americans also listen for 1-3 hours a day, but this audience’s peak listening occurs between 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Compared to 2011, Hispanics report spending 50% more time listening to Internet Radio on a tablet, 40% more time listening on a computer, and 37% more time listening on a mobile phone; while 41% of African American listeners report spending more time listening to Internet Radio on a computer, 34% more time listening on a mobile phone, and 27% more time listening on a Tablet.

Increased connectivity has been a catalyst to drive digital listening across all audiences. This is evidenced by the fact that Digital Audio use among both African Americans and Hispanics has surpassed Broadcast Radio listening both at home and at work. 80% of African Americans listen to Digital Audio at home and 58% listen at work, while 46% listen to Broadcast Radio at home and 16% at work. The comparison is similar for Hispanics with 75% listening to Digital Audio at home and 62% at work, as compared to Broadcast Radio listening rates of 45% at home and 18% at work.
The study reveals that both audiences often look at the player to see the name of a song or artist, are highly engaged with their content experience, changing stations on the same Internet Radio website and changing Internet Radio websites at least once per day, and do not keep their players minimized throughout their listening session, another telling indicator of engagement.

Social media is extremely intertwined with both the Hispanic and African American Internet Radio experience. Both of these audiences are even more engaged in social media while listening than the general population, with 63% of African Americans and 70% of Hispanics visiting social networking sites while listening, compared to 60% of the general population. Additionally, while a strong 35% of the general population links an Internet Radio profile to a social network, 44% of Hispanics and 53% of African Americans are sharing this information with their friends.

Hispanic and African American advertising recall and response rates exceed the already extraordinary rates of the general population. 61% of Hispanics and 59% of African Americans recall having seen or heard an Internet Radio ad within the last 30 days. Of those listeners, 61% of Hispanics and 56% of African Americans responded to an Internet Radio ad in one way or another. This is compared to 58% recall and 44% response rates among the general population.

Similar to the general population, while more African American and Hispanic consumers listen to Digital Audio than ever before, they are not paying for this content. In fact, 81% of African American Internet Radio listeners and 78% of Hispanic Internet Radio listeners do not pay a fee for access to premium Digital Audio services. This means the vast majority of listeners prefer free ad-supported services, and are choosing to receive ads.