The New Mobility: The Case for Smarter Station Apps

One of the advantages that radio used to tout was mobility. Radio was everywhere. On the move in the car, with a hand-held radio, and at home with an actual radio receiver in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

Television wasn’t a threat because portable TVs were big, bulky, and had poor reception. Radio had it over the few elements of media that it competed with… in the past. It’s been decades since radio had exclusive reach.

The most dramatic technological change came 18 years ago. On June 29, 2007, to be precise.

On that day, Apple officially launched the first iPhone – a device that not only ignited the smartphone market, but redefined and transformed the way we communicate, work, receive entertainment & information, as well as how we interact with technology. Today smartphones deliver audio and video, allow for games, podcasting, and serve as an information source. Communication is via texting, social media DMs, and phone calls. Fewer and fewer individuals have a home landline phone. Mobile technology has changed how accessible we are and how we live our lives.

Yet radio seems to ignore the opportunity to take advantage of the access and connection to an audience using mobile technology. Once you go beyond the two largest radio aggregators, the technology of remote listening via an App is limited. Many stations have what is no more than a landing page as a portal to hear their radio station on a mobile device. They’re missing out on creating an entertainment & information experience that builds brand loyalty for the station while providing another revenue stream.

Listeners aged 25-54 spend over half of their in-car listening time with a traditional AM/FM radio receiver, and those aged 55+ spend an even larger portion of their time with radio receivers. Those percentages used to be much higher in radio’s favor.

Gen Z listeners (13-24) spend a considerable amount of time listening to the radio on a mobile device with 43% of their time being in-car listening on a mobile device. I’ve been in a car with under-20s and they connect their “devices” (which is what they call mobile phones) to CarPlay to hear a local radio station. 

Radio’s future needs to be focused on delivering content to multiple platforms. Despite being able to touch the screen on the car’s center stack, younger listeners are very comfortable with listening to the radio on a device. It’s about more than mobility. It’s also about everything at their fingertips. That’s where radio’s approach should be. Ubiquity. That’s the battlefield and the opportunity for radio in North America. Europe has given us the model for what our approach should be for mobility.

Jan Mueller is the CEO of a Zurich-based technology company named Audiospace and its parent company, Brands Are Live, which builds entertainment apps for brands in the retail and services space. Audiospace specifically creates apps for radio stations. They entered the US market two years ago and have grown their business to more than 100 radio stations. Mueller is a former radio personality turned Program Director turned tech student, who has built a global business combining his experiences in media with the education he garnered in technology.

Jan was gracious to spend time with me analyzing the North American mobile market and offering suggestions for radio.

The differences between Europe and North America start with technology. Texting first appeared in Europe in 1992. It was 8 years before it became universal in the USA. Mueller shared that it goes beyond that, “The USA has the bigger personalities. The shows, the presenters, the talent are better known. The most famous radio and podcast personalities come from the USA. That’s really something that matters because content is so incredibly important.” 

“Technology matters because of reach. Europe is made up of smaller, structured countries. In the USA, you have the potential to reach so many more people. The delivery method – in this case, a radio app – is going to be judged against other apps. Radio is competing with those from DSPs, Satellite Radio, Social media, Video companies, retailers, and other Radio Station apps. The experience for the user has to be pleasing, provide a service, satisfy a need, and be easy to access and use. That includes engagement.”

When asked about those things that radio should be focused on to take their apps to the highest level, he started with making it a sought-after destination. Touching a lot of listeners and users by presenting many types of content.

“Delivering a radio stations stream is the obvious, but providing additional channels that include on-demand programming, shows that are “After Shows”, podcasting, additional content that may or may not be on the HD2 and HD3, localized programming that has a niche audience like school sports or local news, concert and community information, and the ability to communicate with the station.”

The growth of digital advertising in partnership with legacy media, like Radio, is the most obvious reason for broadcasters to focus on developing apps that are more than one-dimensional. Audiospace has developed the ability to deliver coupons synced to commercial messaging. Mueller also notes that the measurement of digital impressions leads directly to revenue generation. That’s a focus of their company in that they developed an algorithm that secures the highest paying programmatic advertising available at that moment and schedules it, thus maximizing revenue. 

The consumer (listener) has to be considered when thinking about the approach you take when launching an app. When an app is downloaded, and the value is not seen in the first few seconds, it is deleted. Listeners decide quickly what’s valuable and what isn’t. Most of us try to reduce the number of apps we have on our phones. The value proposition has to be answered. Mueller pointed out, “That isn’t by continuing to use the landing page style on the early 00s for your App. You’re competing with Spotify, Pandora, and Apple. They have highly functional apps, rich in content, and pleasingly attractive.”

Radio station apps can match those offerings. 

Jan believes a part of future developments will include more and more content aggregated in one place. Something that will be part of the evolution of radio apps. Not single apps, but aggregation within companies, within groups (iHeart and Audacy as examples), within companies that have synergies with each other, including managing a platform together. That may be in sports, news, entertainment, and/or music. What content is aggregated will be key. A network known for sports, like ESPN, may see competition from those radio networks that specialize in sports. 

Users on apps have a greater connection to a station because the app resides on the user’s phone. If a user listens primarily through the station’s website, when they leave the site, they’re gone. Maybe forever. App users are different in that the connection continues. That means that every download of the app has value because of the potential for ongoing listening. 

The gap between installs and daily active users is massive in most cases. They call them dormant users. So many apps have a very high percentage of dormant users, as much as 80-90%, so only 20-10% use the application after downloading it. You should want to make sure that the number of active users is very high. You do that by having a very good starting position as a radio station. If you start by combining on-air with online. Encourage participation in contests, take requests through the app, communicate with the on-air host by responding to content, participating in polls, and air live streams. 

The ability to allow the listener to interact with a station’s playlist provides a unique connection. Skipping songs, listening offline, listening on demand, buying music and merchandise through the app are all attributes available today. Sending voicemails to the studio and direct communication with the talent is particularly valuable given the number of stations that have voice-tracked talent or those who perform remotely away from the station’s studio. 

Exclusive content, like an interview with a famous artist, newsmaker, athlete, or podcaster, is another way to attract an audience, but what if you can have a listener interact with the celebrity guest through the app? Jan Mueller, having been a programmer and on-air talent, brings this different listener-facingapproach. “It doesn’t mean that the interview doesn’t air on the radio, and it doesn’t mean that you don’t encourage listeners to call in, but it does increase connectivity. It gives the audience a reason to come back over and over.”

Video has become such an important part of audio. Research shows that podcasts that include video are growing at a faster rate than newly launched audio-only podcasts. Those radio shows that use video through the app and station website, or other platforms like Twitch, have more audience engagement. It also extends the reach of the station beyond using only one sense. All of these touchpoints take the reason for having a station app to a place beyond being a landing page. Which, if you want to compete, is where you should be today. 

While Radio’s future depends on many things, mobility is among the most important.