Regional Surveys hailed a success

It’s been a big year for regional radio surveys through 2016 with 27 markets surveyed around Australia, and following years where the industry suffered from a complete vacuum of survey information, it is hard to see the move as anything but positive.

Regional markets have reacted positively to the surveys, conducted by Xtra Insights, with John Williams, General Manager of Sunshine Coast Broadcasters (Mix & Sea) saying: 

“Radio was the only main medium that was not providing up to date figures”.

CRA CEO Joan Warner went on to say:

“The aim of the surveys is to focus attention on the role played by commercial radio in regional Australia and highlight how radio can be used effectively to reach people throughout regional Australia”

Grant Blackley, CEO of Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), talked about the importance of the figures to advertisers:

“National advertisers want to see data. They want to know how many people and who are listening to our stations – and so these new surveys enable us to confidently engage with advertisers and agencies allowing us to further substantiate key metrics, which assist the investment buying process. This, plus the confidence it gives our sales teams to support the brands they are selling, will lead to an improvement in our revenue”.

There are a number of regional markets scheduled for surveys during 2017 already.