With palpable glee, the Toronto-HQ’d Radio Marketing Bureau has released the results of a study that strongly corroborates the wisdom of weighting ad budgets in favour of radio.

Highlights of the comprehensive research completed for the RMB by Foundation include the following:

• Radio accounts for one-third of Canadians’ daily media time.

• Canadians increased their daily radio listening in the past year by 5% to 2.3 hours per day.

• Hard-to-target groups such as higher-income adults and working women listen to radio daily, spending more time with radio than any other medium.

• Radio ads aren’t skipped. Only 26% of adults indicated they avoid radio advertising, making the ad-skipping rate 10 points lower than the closest competitor.

• Radio is the most compatible medium with the Internet, as 42% of adults 18-49 listen while online, either directly or streaming.

• Online radio is emerging as a new listening channel, creating fresh opportunities for advertisers to engage consumers.

• On average, 80% of Canadians listen while driving to and from a shopping trip, and 60% identified radio as the last medium they were exposed to before a purchase occasion.

The bottom line, says RMB president Gary Belgrave, is that ‘radio offers advertisers consistent market presence for brands because listening is ubiquitous, and in tune with the lifestyles of Canadians. [The report’s] results further support the role that radio plays within successful advertisers’ integrated media plans.’

The complete study may be viewed at www.rmb.ca.