SCA hits record-breaking live streaming figures during lockdown

More Aussies tuned into Southern Cross Austereo stations via live streams than ever before in the month of May, 2020.

During the record-breaking month, listenership for SCA live radio streaming was up 3% month on month, and 42% year on year. Those figures helped bring the total reach to 1.3 million listeners.

In addition, there were 4.3 million downloads of catch-up podcasts for Triple M and Hit shows, a 47% increase year on year.

SCA also reported that audiences are listening for longer, with a 47% jump in total listening hours, plus a 40% increase in reach.

The return of the NRL has also proved a boost, with Triple M’s range of footy shows downloaded over a million times, and could see numbers rise further during the rest of June.

Chief sales officer Brian Gallagher attributed working from home as a factor in helping live streaming radio become part of new routines.

“We expected live radio streaming and catch up radio podcasts to increase during lockdown with people working from home, but what we have found is that live radio streaming has become part of people’s daily routine.

“May was once again a record breaking month across our digital audio products, with more listeners tuning into Hit and Triple M for longer than ever before.”

Some other stats SCA has reported for May include:

• • 2 million smart speaker listening hours (a 21% increase).
  • 18% increase from March to May in live streaming on mobiles.
  • 14,000 listeners for Hit’s Virtual Trivia games with Hughesy & Ed.
  • Over a million downloads of footy offerings on Triple M (The Rush Hour, The Rub and Triple M Rocks Footy).
  • 300% jump year on year for social video views.
  • SCA PodcastOne downloads up 127% month on month.

“The trend to listen across a range of devices continues to grow. Audio has proven to be a key companion choice as we move back into more normal routines,” says Gallagher.

The latest figures followed a 49% increase in podcast downloads from early March to mid-May.