Bringing Back At-Work Digital Listeners

We’re in the midst of three opportunities to sit in on the first installment of the NuVoodoo fall webinar series. This first entry is “How To Win The Workplace War In 2019,” based on our latest Ratings Prospects Study of over 3,000 respondents across all PPM markets. Last week we showed that 60% of the ratings-susceptible respondents we’ve identified say they listen at work. Those who pay attention to declines in workday PUMM and PUR levels know that the competition for at-work listening has never been more fierce.

Last week, we talked about the growing percentage of at-work listeners connecting with terrestrial-based streams helping to tip the scales in favor of broadcasters – and with it, the need to ensure that our streams give listeners a great experience, are easy to use and are as reliable as the over-the-air signal. While broadcasters should be working to connect with listeners via whatever device they prefer, broadcasters also need to work with Nielsen to make sure they get credit for all the time spent with their stations.

We showed that significant percentages are using digital pureplays, like Spotify and Pandora, while they work, but it would be wrong to conclude that people never listen to terrestrial once find their way to digital pureplays. NuVoodoo has experience wooing listeners back with well-designed contesting and messaging. We may only be renting these ears back to goose ratings in some cases, but those extra ears can often be the necessary boost to get past a competitor in the rankings.

And we should remember that the pureplays aren’t perfect listening experiences. They can deliver unsatisfying music selection and very repetitive commercial inventories. Many of those who listen to digital pureplays at work today recognize the additional benefits of FM radio: people they like, the local community connection and, of course, no cost. While it’s easy to find fault with radio, there remains a lot to love.

Remember that ratings respondents are, overall, more motivated by contesting. So, many of those in the ratings samples who are listening to digital pureplays today have that leverage point. In addition, we see that many of them respond to terrestrial’s connections with their community and the hosts we have on the air. These ideas give you additional leverage points to use to bring listeners back.

We have two more sessions of our “How to Win the Workplace War in 2019” webinar on July 31 and August 5. Secure a slot by registering at nuvoodoo.com/webinars. Later in August we’ll turn our attention to the broader topics of promotion and contesting.