What is it about radio that gets people talking? This report details exactly how both broadcasters and their audiences speak, engage and behave online in the US as opposed to the UK. More info: http://bit.ly/1elk2PA

1. Brandwatch Report/
Dual Senses/ 2013
Listening to the impact of Twitter upon
the radio sector.
Discover the challenges, trends and opportunities
facing the world’s leading radio stations in the wake of
the social media revolution
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
we’re
listening!
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

2. Brandwatch Report
Dual Senses/ 2013
Why read this...
“ There’s no such thing as radio per se anymore – or television or
advertising agencies – it all falls under the same banner called “media”
which includes social media as part of its tapestry. And if you’re a
broadcaster reaching zillions of ears, your job is to give those ears
something to do and someplace to go whether or not it’s to a website
devoted to your radio station. The opportunity for radio brands to harness
the power of social media is now. ”
4
Key Findings
5
Comparison
7
The Sample
8
Audience Behavior
Audience Top Topics
Broadcaster Behavior
20
Content
25
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
Introduction
14
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
3
12
Mark Ramsey, Veteran Media Strategist, Researcher And Trend Maker
2
Contents
Tweet Timing

3. Dual Senses/ 2013
Introduction/
It’s 2013: How are radio stations using Twitter to engage with their listeners?
has earned its legacy. From delivering wartime news in the
‘40s to pirate radio distribution in the ‘60s, there are now
nearly 14,000 radio channels in the UK and US alone.
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
The proliferation of digital technology and social media placed
pressure upon radio broadcasters to adapt to a litany of rapid
changes in listener behavior.
3
Here at Brandwatch, we’re fascinated about the ways in
which social media can be harnessed to connect brands with
customers and audiences, but also the rich wealth of insights
that analyzing social media can provide organizations with.
This report reveals insights surrounding 20 of the top US radio
stations, identifying trends, spotting challenges and evaluating
which stations are best at capitalizing upon the opportunities
that Twitter presents.
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
To gather these insights, Brandwatch carefully selected a
sample of 20 radio stations that best represent the market,
valuable information into how audiences are interacting with
radio stations on Twitter and, in turn, how radio stations can
optimize the potential of the platform.
If you’d like to discover how analysis of social media can
using social media monitoring and analytics can add value
to your bottom line, then either check out our library, gaze
at our gallery, or get in touch with us for a live demo of our
platform.
Take Brandwatch for a spin
Read one of our free reports

4. Dual Senses/ 2013
Key Findings/
Analysis of discussion about US radio stations revealed a number of
compelling insights.
On average, only 0.06% of radio listeners tweet about a
radio station in the US.
There are lots of opportunities for radio broadcasters to
This is 10 times less frequently than listeners in the UK.
Tweets featuring celebrities, links and pictures were more
popular than those without.
Radio isn’t always capitalizing upon key audience
conversation times.
loyal to one radio station.
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
brands.
4
Tweets that mention brands receive less interaction
from fans.
Tweets with hashtags receive 43% less interaction than
those without.
account than a radio station’s Twitter account.
Uncovering insights about audience preferences can give
content and strategy to fans.
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

5. Dual Senses/ 2013
Comparison/ US vs UK
US
UK
radio station.
loyal to one radio station.
0.06% of radio stations’ listeners mentioned them on Twitter.
On average, 0.4% of radio listeners mention radio stations on
Twitter.
41% of radio @interactions are with celebrities, 32% with
brands and 10% with followers.
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
Tweets receive ten times more interaction when a celebrity is
Tweets receive three times more interaction when a celebrity
mentioned and 33% less interaction when a brand is mentioned. is mentioned.
5
Pictures and links encourage almost 70% more interaction,
though tweets with hashtags received 43% less retweets.
Tweets with hashtags, pictures and links were more popular
than those without.
account than a radio station’s Twitter account. However, radio
stations receive a greater amount of positive sentiment.
account than a radio station’s Twitter account.
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

6. Dual Senses/ 2013
Comparison/ TV vs Radio
TV broadcasters are a lot more
sophisticated on social media than
engage with fans compared to just
26% of radio stations.
100
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
% PERCENT
Most TV shows embrace hashtags on
6
tweets, compared to only 30% of radio
stations consistently doing so.
60
40
regular activity not only drives discovery
and engagement, but also drives
increases in brand recall scores and
other marketing goals*.
20
*Tune In With Twitter Report
0
Use Hashtags
Interact with Fans
KEY:
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
TV

7. Dual Senses/ 2013
The Sample/
All 20 radio stations monitored had an
active presence on Twitter.
The radio station sample was selected primarily on the
talk and sports were also chosen in order to broaden the
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
The data was captured using Brandwatch Analytics for the
7
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

8. Dual Senses/ 2013
Audience Behavior/ Station Share of Voice
Hot 97 was the radio station discussed most
frequently on Twitter.
33%
17%
KIIS FM
16%
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
NowFM
8
9%
7%
Z100
18%
Other
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
radio conversation on Twitter.
mentioned most frequently.
the overall discussion. This presents a
large potential area of growth for the
remaining radio stations to increase
the size and quality of their online
communities.

9. Dual Senses/ 2013
Audience Behavior/ Listener Twitter Activity - Genre
Pop radio stations dominated Share Of Voice.
Pop radio stations had the largest
share of voice, with classical and talk
radio stations receiving a far smaller
volume of discussion.
This presents another clear opportunity
for growing the online presence of
radio brands, especially for non-pop
broadcasters.
12000
9
NUMBER OF MENTIONS
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Classical
Pop
Sports
RADIO GENRE
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
Talk

10. Dual Senses/ 2013
Audience Behavior/ Twitter Activity
On average, 0.4% of listeners talk about radio
stations on Twitter.
Radio Station (US)
Monthly Listeners
Total Twitter Mentions
Listeners who Tweet %
Hot 97
2,660,300
10407
0.39
92.3 NOW
3,075,000
4911
0.15
102.7 KIISFM
4,043,700
5206
0.12
Power 105.1
2,561,600
2688
0.1
B96
1,850,500
1692
0.091
918,800
621
0.067
Y100 Miami
1,121,000
553
0.049
Z100
4,282,400
1932
0.045
819,900
340
0.041
3,144,000
1495
0.04
626,000
211
0.033
77 WABC Radio
1,417,100
415
0.029
Classical WQXR
654,500
159
0.024
Talk Radio 790 KABC
532,000
95
0.017
103.5 KISSFM
2,107,800
109
0.005
Variety 103.5
682,000
33
0.004
1,059,200
235
0%
V101 Memphis
334,500
16
0%
Classical KUSC
697,100
27
0%
1,277,700
16
0%
680 KNBR
89 WLS
97.1 AMP
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
AM570 Fox Sports LA
10
On average, 0.06% of US radio
listeners talk about radio online. That’s
just one tenth of the percentage of
engaged radio listeners in the UK.
Star 94FM
Magic 106.7
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
discussion, despite having far fewer
listeners than some of its competitors.
Musically-specialist stations, such as
the classical broadcasters KUSC and
WQXR are less successful in provoking
discussion than pop music channels.

11. Dual Senses/ 2013
Audience Behavior/
93% of those who mention broadcasters on Twitter
were loyal to one radio station.
MULTIPLE INTERACTIONS
There were almost 22,000 unique
authors tweeting about radio in the
period studied.
CONSISTENT INTERACTIONS*
radio stations on a regular basis
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
Listeners of US radio stations are
mostly loyal to one station. Research
has demonstrated that customer
retention increases can correlate
to increased engagement on social
11
KEY:
TWEETS TO MULTIPLE RADIO STATIONS
TWEETS TO ONE RADIO STATION
KEY:
LESS THAN 5X
MORE THAN 5X
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

12. Dual Senses/ 2013
Audience Top Topics/
The top topics of audience conversation were
celebrities, links to media and discussion about
show content.
TOP TOPICS
26%
Celebrities
20%
Links to media
19%
Show content
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
11%
12
Reference to home cities
10
%
DJs
11%
Song requests
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
10%
TV series
Celebrity culture is a main driver of
conversation, with over a quarter
of all listener mentions relating to
celebrity news, interviews or songs.
This provides a good chance for radio
stations to not only better understand
content preferences of their audience,
but to also devise strategies that
encourage listeners to engage through
Twitter.
Listeners are proud of their cities, and
references to their home city was one
of the top mentioned topics.
Song requests were dominated in
large volumes by certain groups of
superfans, such as “Monsters” and
“Beliebers.”

13. Dual Senses/ 2013
Audience Top Topics/
The main causes for negative discussion related to
DJs and programming.
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
Positive Conversation
13
Celebrities
Home Cities
DJs
Negative Conversation
DJs
Show Content
Topical News
Over the period analyzed, 1% of the
conversation was negative. Although a
seemingly small number, it accounts for
3,200 mentions, very few of which were
responded to.
32% of social customers expect
a response to a complaint within
30 minutes. Research by Nielsen
demonstrates that 71% of consumers
who experience a quick brand response
are likely to share that with others.
Negative discussion centered around
stations can gain rich insights from this
social data, helping them understand
content works best.
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

14. Dual Senses/ 2013
Broadcast Behavior/ Broadcaster Engagement
Head to head:
103.5 KISS & Hot 97 vs. KUSC & WQXR.
the volume of mentions.
This disparity between stations can also
0.4
0.4
WQXR and KUSC have the same
% ENGAGED
% ENGAGED
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
14
engagement ratios.
0.3
0.3
0.2
activities that increase interaction with
their audience, including:
0.2
Promoting national holidays
e.g., Pride weekend in NYC and
0.1
0.1
0.0
0.0
Hot 97
103.5 Kiss
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
Classical WQXR
Classical KUSC
Links to engaging content
Competitions and prizes
Relevant news
Behind-the-scene pictures

15. Dual Senses/ 2013
Broadcast Behavior/ Broadcaster Twitter Activity
The more active radio stations were, the more active
the audience was.
Simply by becoming more active on
social media, radio broadcasters are
able to engage their following far more
200
17
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
0
15
When radio stations increased their
weekly Twitter activity, the volume of
audience discussion increased.
12
100
1-4
6
7-
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

16. Dual Senses/ 2013
Broadcast Behavior/ Broadcaster Twitter Activity
Hot 97 was the most active and most mentioned radio
station on Twitter.
MOST ACTIVE
37 tweets
p/week
17 tweets
p/week
Hot 97
B96
17 tweets
p/week
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
Ampradio
16
16 tweets
p/week
NowFM
11 tweets
p/week
KIISFM
468 tweets
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
Other
p/week
Radio stations tweeted an average of
7 times per week, far less than the UK
radio average of 46.
being active on social and generating
large volumes of conversation as a
result.
Classical and sports radio stations
have the most room for improvement,
as they are currently the least active
on Twitter.

17. Dual Senses/ 2013
Broadcast Behavior/ Broadcast Vs Engagement
Overall, broadcast tweets made up 40% of the
messages sent by radio stations.
Radio stations do not tend to reply to
the comments aimed at them, seldom
engaging with listeners at all.
Sports stations interacted with their
audience the most, and pop stations
did so the least.
100
Radio broadcasters are missing a
huge opportunity to foster a closer
relationship with listeners. According
to Forrester, engaged social followers
17
% OF TWEETS
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
80
60
prefer and recommend a brand.
40
20
0
Sports
Talk
KEY:
BROADCAST
Classical
INTERACTION
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
Pop

18. Dual Senses/ 2013
Broadcast Behavior/ @mention Interactions
73% of broadcaster interactions are with celebrities
and brands, not listeners.
41%
Celebrities
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
17%
18
32%
Brands
10%
Followers
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
41% of radio stations’ direct @
interactions were directed at celebrities,
and 32% toward brands.
When mentioning celebrities, the radio
stations tend to use them as either a
source of news content, or talk to those
who are appearing on the show.
The number of interactions with brands
demonstrates the high reliance on
advertising relationships and another
lost chance to interact with fans. The
low volume of listener conversation
suggests that this approach to brands
is not resonating with fans in any great
depth.

19. Dual Senses/ 2013
Broadcast Behavior/ Broadcaster Interactions
Tweets that mention brands receive less interaction
from fans.
Although radio broadcasters are not
@mentioning their fans very often,
mentioning celebrities is a successful
way to engage with them. Tweets that
mentioned a celebrity received ten
times more interaction than those
that didn’t.
35
NUMBER OF INTERACTIONS
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
30
19
Tweets that do not reference a brand
receive more interactions than those
that do.
25
20
However, the data also illustrates that
if radio stations overindulge in their
engagement with brands, followers are
quick to lose interest.
15
10
5
0
Celebrity Interaction
KEY:
Brand Interaction
MENTION
DON’T MENTION
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

20. Dual Senses/ 2013
Content/ Tweet Content
Tweets with pictures and links were more popular
than those without.
Including rich media content poses
another avenue for stations to cultivate,
engage and grow fans.
12
NUMBER OF INTERACTIONS
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
10
20
in the volume of interactions when a
tweet contained an image and a 67%
increase when there was a link.
Unlike data analyzed in the UK, tweets
that contained a hashtag received less
interaction than those without.
8
6
4
2
0
Pictures
Links
KEY:
WITH
Hashtags
WITHOUT
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo

21. Dual Senses/ 2013
Content/ Hashtag Analysis
Tweets with hashtags receive 43% less interaction
than those without.
Top 10 Owned Hashtags
Radio
Audience
#toplesssummer
#hot97
#pepsi
#nyc
#abarth
#summerbash
#keysong
#np
#hate2wait
DJs
#ifwtcatchup
#heavyhitters
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
#summerbash
21
Hashtag comparison illustrates the
disparity in conversation topic between
the radio stations and their audience.
For example, pop channels use
ambiguous hashtags to promote their
campaigns, events and news stories.
However, only two of the hashtags
created by the radio stations are
frequently used by their audience.
#nowplaying
#royalbaby
#blurredlines
#mtvhottest
#newrules
#’iheartradio
#imout
#uncapped
#royalbaby
#hate2wait
#nikeplus
#e3
#mahomies
#ifwtrending
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
engagement, often successfully, with
broadcasters can emulate this in order
to better match their tweet content
to the preferences and habits of their
audience.

22. Dual Senses/ 2013
Content/ Competitions
Competitions are used to successfully drive
conversation.
140
AWAY PEPSI
SUMMER BASH
TICKETS
120
The promotion of competitions is
generally a successful tactic employed
by broadcasters.
When radio stations ran Twitter
competitions, audience conversation
GIVING AWAY
BEYONCE
CONCERT
TICKETS
100
KIISFM GIVING
AWAY TICKETS TO
80
each genre, with prizes contextual to
the target audience.
CIVIC TOUR.
60
22
20
KEY:
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
3
20
1
19
/
20
13
08
/
08
/
20
13
12
/
05
/
20
13
AUDIENCE
08
/
29
/
20
13
07
/
22
/
20
13
RADIO STATIONS
07
/
3
15
/
20
1
07
/
08
/
20
13
07
/
01
/
20
13
07
/
24
/
20
13
06
/
17
/
20
13
06
/
3
10
/
20
1
06
/
03
/
06
/
27
/
20
13
0
05
/
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
40

23. Dual Senses/ 2013
Content/ Peaks and Reasons
Events and celebrities were the main drivers of conversation.
1000+ RTS
2000
0
AUSTIN MAHONE
PULLS OUT OF
PERFORMANCE AT
INTERVIEW ON
KIISFM
23
MENTIONS
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
CIARA
T-MOBILE
1000
TO PLAY 3 HOURS OF
NON-STOP MUSIC –
SAMSUNG APP
FAILURE
REQUESTS
0
0
3
DATA CAPTURED USING BRANDWATCH ANALYTICS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
03-Aug-13 10-Aug-13 17-Aug-13

24. Dual Senses/ 2013
Content/
Followers are 54% more likely to engage with a DJ’s
Twitter account than a radio station’s Twitter account.
radio. This leaves plenty of room for
enhance their social strategy.
Though a stronger driver of
10
to be negatively discussed.
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
PERCENT
8
24
broadcasters deep insight into not only
the best ways to engage with listeners
6
4
most liked by fans – and why.
2
0
Radio Stations
DJs
KEY:
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE

25. Dual Senses/ 2013
Tweet Timing/ Twitter Activity
Radio stations are moderately successful at matching
Twitter activity with optimum publication times.
N
1.
30
1.6
1.4
1.2
20
1.0
0.
25
10
Radio stations are taking advantage
of some peak times but are missing
out on other key opportunities.
For example, the peak moment for
audience chatter is around 11am, yet
radio stations focus activity much later
in the day.
Again, by understanding the audience’s
behavior, habits and preferences, a
implemented.
0.4
0.2
KEY:
RADIO STATIONS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
AUDIENCE
p
11 m
pm
10
m
m
6p
m
7p
m
10
a
11 m
a
12 m
pm
1p
m
2p
m
3p
m
4p
m
0.0
6a
m
7a
m
0.0
12
am
1a
m
2a
m
3a
m
4a
m
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
0.6
The top periods for audience tweet
activity are before midday and each
evening.

26. Dual Senses/ 2013
Tweet Timing/
Radio stations are generally tweeting on
optimum days.
Radio broadcasters are largely
successful in matching their activity to
that of their audience.
0
30
0
However, stations are cutting down
frequency of tweets over the weekend,
which doesn’t pose a problem with
400
0
20
300
0
200
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
10
26
0
100
0
0
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday
AY
KEY:
RADIO STATIONS
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
AUDIENCE
Friday
Saturday
out on Saturday’s popularity for
audience Twitter activity.

27. Brandwatch Report
Dual Senses/ 2013
Thank you/
Hopefully by reading this report you’ve gained some understanding into the state of
general can adopt a more intelligent approach to online activity.
We love to help our clients make sense of large datasets and what is being said about
them online, in order to deliver a whole suite of measurable business advantages.
Please do get in touch if you’d like to discuss the conversation that matters to you.
Report/ Dual Senses/ 2013
/about Brandwatch
27
Brandwatch is one of the world’s leading providers of social media monitoring and
analysis. More than 700 global brands and agencies use Brandwatch to listen,
analyze and engage with online conversations around their brand, their customers
and their industry.
Book a demo with us brandwatch.com/demo
/info
improve your business or to schedule
a demo, visit Brandwatch.com/demo
or contact us today:
US
UK
Germany