Why It Matters: In a world that keeps moving faster, it is tempting to believe the advantage belongs to the stations with the newest tools, the greatest scale or the smartest AI. Those things matter. But they are not the starting point. Great outcomes start with great questions. That has always been true of station

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Radio continues to deliver the broadest weekly audience of any measured media platform, reaching 87% of U.S. adults each week despite growing media fragmentation, according to Katz Radio Group’s latest Sound Answers report highlighting Nielsen Audience Insights data for the first quarter of 2026. The report finds AM/FM radio remains particularly strong among younger listeners,

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BridgeRatings: Dave Van Dyke, dvd@bridgeratings.com For years, radio has searched for explanations about declining relevance. Streaming. Podcasts. Smartphones. Social media. Changing habits. All of those have changed the media landscape. But they aren’t the whole story. Radio lost its courage. Somewhere along the way, the industry stopped making bold decisions and started making safe ones.

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New research highlighted by Cumulus Media | Westwood One’s Audio Active Group shows AM/FM radio remains the dominant ad-supported audio platform among BMW drivers, reinforcing radio’s value for automakers and dealers looking to reach both loyal customers and buyers of competing brands. In a new blog post, Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard examines newly released

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Audacy is making the case that News/Talk radio remains one of the most valuable environments for advertisers, citing new research that positions the format as radio’s largest across both broadcast and streaming while highlighting high levels of audience loyalty, trust and purchasing power. According to The Marketers’ Guide to News/Talk Radio, News/Talk now accounts for

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A new study from the Cumulus Media | Westwood Audio Active Group found that a national AM/FM radio campaign significantly improved brand awareness, favorability and consumer engagement for a nasal congestion and allergy relief brand, while also highlighting audio’s effectiveness in reaching category users. The study, conducted by Quantilope, surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults age 35

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CEO BridgeRatings: Dave Van Dyke, dvd@bridgeratings.com Another week. Another round of layoffs to streamline operations and better serve listeners. It’s a familiar message, and no one doubts the financial pressures facing today’s radio industry. But after years of workforce reductions, perhaps we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of asking whether companies have too many employees,

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BridgeRatings: Dave Van Dyke, dvd@bridgeratings.com For years, radio has spent millions trying to understand why listeners leave. Research asks former listeners why they stopped listening. Consultants analyze audience erosion. Executives debate competition from streaming, podcasts and social media. But what if we’ve been studying the wrong people? Instead of asking why people leave, perhaps radio

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Coleman Insights, in collaboration with Greater Public, will introduce The State of Public Radio Underwriting, a new qualitative study focused on the challenges, opportunities, and changing realities facing public radio underwriting professionals across the United States, at next week’s Public Media Growth Conference in Chicago. The study is designed to gather perspectives from underwriting and

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BridgeRatings: Dave Van Dyke dvd@bridgeratings.com One of radio’s biggest problems isn’t music. It isn’t streaming. It isn’t podcasts. It’s tone. At some point, many stations stopped sounding like people and started sounding like presentations. Listeners can hear the difference instantly. Radio once felt conversational. Personal. Warm. Imperfect in a good way. Air talent sounded like

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