Local businesses have been marketing their goods and services on Augusta, Georgia radio since June 25, 1930. That's when Warren Davenport and Clark Jack put Augusta's first radio station, WRDW, on the air.
Mr. Davenport and Mr. Clark were owners of Musicove, a store at 309 Eighth Street that sold radios, records, and sheet music.
The inaugural broadcast of WRDW began at 1:05 am and lasted nearly three hours. The first program included a performance by local musician J. Bernard Carpenter.
A few days later on July 3, WRDW broadcast a speech by J. Roy Cooper, a candidate for Mayor in Augusta. This was the city's first-ever political broadcast.
WRDW had several owners over the years including soul music legend James Brown. Mr. Brown's family had moved to Augusta when the singer was four years old.
Who could have guessed that 93 years later, advertising on Augusta radio would still be the best advertising option for all types of retailers and business owners.
Every week, according to Nielsen, Augusta radio reaches 343,125 adult consumers. This reach is significantly higher than all other advertising options including local TV, cable, social media, streaming video, online audio, and newspapers.
Reach, according to Nielsen, is the audience metric most responsible for driving the success of an advertising campaign. Only the message itself carries more sway.
According to additional data released this month by Nielsen, not only does AM/FM radio reach more adults each week, but the medium also reaches more adults every single month. This is true among almost every imaginable demographic segment.
Among all ad-supported audio options, according to Nielsen's new research, AM/FM radio commands the greatest time spent listening every day. In other words, adult consumers spend more time listening to local radio than with choices such as YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, Podcasts, and Sirius/XM.
Local business owners may wonder why Augusta radio, an early 20th-century technology remains the dominant advertising medium among adult consumers.
According to the 2023 Media Techsurvey from Jacobs Media, these are the three main reasons listeners choose to spend the majority of their audio time with AM/Radio:
- Easiest To Listen To In Car (67%)
- It's Free (64%)
- DJs/Hosts/Shows (60%)
Radio's reach dominance over nearly ten decades can also be attributed to the medium's strategic decision to make its content available both over-the-air and online. According to Nislen's latest measurements, 20% of all time listening to AM/FM radio among adults 25-54 happens via stations' online streams. This is 42% more time than in 2021.
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