As we wrapped up the last presentation of data from the public portions of the “What Women Want-2017,” Strategic Solutions Research partner Hal Rood and I compared notes on what we thought was most significant from the study. Several people have asked me what I thought was the best or most surprising thing to emerge from the research. I learned a couple of new tricks from this year’s data, but to me the very best thing about the study was getting another strong reminder of just how powerful radio truly is. Radio is the ultimate survivor; if cockroaches are the only life form still around at the end of the world, they will be listening to radio.

There’s a long, long list of things that were supposedly going to kill radio: television; music videos; the Walkman; in-dash cassette and then, CD players; satellite radio; and most recently, online music streamers like Pandora and Spotify. And I’m pretty sure that autonomous vehicles won’t do it, either.

Unlike any other medium, radio is able to make an intimate personal connection with its audience. We see that expressed in our data by women telling us that their favorite radio station understands them more and better than the cosmetics or fashion industries, and even more women named radio than their significant other in that regard. We also see it in the enormous degree of affection women express for their favorite radio station; they love their favorite radio station as much or more than giant brands like Amazon and Apple, and that favorite radio station is as well-liked as their mobile phone.

We see it expressed in the study as rock-solid agreement with positive statements about radio at levels unchanged five years ago.

We see it also in the fact that radio is still by far the number one music source at work, and radio still dominates in the car. Hal pointed out that “even though half of all women are able to listen to any audio service in their car simply by plugging in their phone, radio still commands a 76% share of listening.  Hopefully, car makers are paying attention to what consumers really want on their dashboard.”  When we saw that radio’s “P1 medium” vote is only down 15% compared to autos in which the driver can’t or doesn’t know she can next to the Internet, Hal commented that the major television networks would have been thrilled to have cable networks chip away that small a slice.

So, no, Virginia, pureplay music streamers are not killing radio people are using them instead of their personal music collection, not to replace their radio listening. And that’s because of the personal connection, a sense of belonging and being understood that radio fosters, and fun listening to a good radio station.

There’s another reason radio remains so popular. As Hal noted, “This study has given real clarity for one of the key drivers for radio:  The carefully curated listening experience.  Women look to radio to provide a mood service and sometimes an escape.  And as they mood changes throughout the day, they can move to another carefully curated ‘mood’ with the click of a preset button.  It is a credit to the broadcasters who painstakingly create the playlists, talk breaks and production elements.  It is also a lesson to programmers to put ice in their veins and audit their product to eliminate those elements that are not contributing to that consistent vibe.”

Hal makes another good point about in-car usage, saying “the other item that jumps out to me is the importance of in-car listening even among fans of Mainstream AC.  If you’re a Mainstream AC and just throwing away your morning drive daypart, you are lowering the ceiling of your potential, since 1/3 of all AC listeners ONLY listen to AM/FM radio in their car!”

Radio is incredibly powerful and healthy – at least in the minds of women. Now we have to make sure that the rest of the world – especially advertisers – get that message.

The biggest surprise of the study, to me, was finding out headphones or earbuds are used there now in listening to radio. Nielsen thinks our numbers are way off, but everything else in this study makes total sense to me when I compare it to previous research, observations, or other known facts, I have no reason to think that this one part of the study is an aberration. Maybe we’re high. Maybe we’re low. Either way, what we have learned is that headphone and earbuds listening occurs in significant amounts. Now that we know, we have to find out how well that listening is being captured. If the answer is “not well enough” there’s a huge upside to getting it fixed. That could mean an inflow of millions upon millions of dollars of new radio revenue.

Nielsen’s response to this data has seemed to me to be defensive, rather than open. But given the way radio so often treats them as an enemy, it’s understandable to a degree. We – radio and Nielsen – need to move this issue forward as partners. But move it forward. I think the best move now would be for Nielsen to tell us all what amount of headphones listening is being measured through the PPM adapter, so that that can be compared to not only our study but any other available benchmarks.

There is one bit of cautionary data in “What Women Want,” and that is the sense that comes through that 15-24’s, especially teens, don’t feel quite as much love, don’t feel quite as close a connection and a sense of being understood by radio than older demos. On the positive side, most of them still love their favorite radio station. Let’s pay them a little more attention, to ensure that affection remains and perhaps even grows as they age. In radio, as in every other walk of life, the future belongs to the young.

The folks at Alan Burns and Associates could not have asked for better partners in this study than Strategic Solutions Research. I want to thank them, along with Jeff Johnson and Kelly Milowe at Alan Burns and Associates, for getting this study and data presentations done well and on time. Thanks also to the hundreds of people who shared their time and attention with us on the webinars.