Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
Growth opportunities. In today’s economic environment, this is what businesses large and small are looking for – growth in awareness, traffic and sales. Growth comes from change – a shift in strategies, tactics and marketing.
Reaching and connecting with diverse audiences was recently highlighted as a sales growth opportunity for automotive dealers. One segment of this diverse audience is Blacks.
Black Americans are a powerful consumer segment, influencing food, fashion, music and more. They wield incredible buying power – it is projected to exceed $2 trillion in 2026. As large consumers of media, connecting and engaging with them on a personal level is important for brands to understand. No other medium connects with the Black community like broadcast radio.
As audiophiles, radio consumption is high – connecting with 92% of Black adults 18+ monthly. Specifically, Urban Radio formats are an integral part of their radio consumption. Per Nielsen’s latest Audio Today 2025, focused on Black consumers, 50% of their radio listening goes to either Urban Contemporary/Hip Hop/ R&B or Urban Adult Contemporary/R&B formats. Radio’s reach dominates, reaching nearly nine in 10 Black adults 18-34. These formats’ incredible reach is high across generations and age groups. They are consistently two of the top three formats for Black adults 25-54, the hard-to-reach Black males 18-49 and Black women 18-49. These formats are not only strong among Black listeners, but they are also ranked as a top five format among all consumers in 75 of Nielsen measured markets.
Given today’s audio landscape, there are audio options galore but when compared to other ad-supported audio options, broadcast radio garners nearly three-quarters of their daily audio day – significantly higher than ad-supported audio streaming apps. When these consumers are on the go, broadcast radio is their companion.
Whether they are in the car or away from home, radio has their ears. Of the time Black adults spend with ad-supported audio in the car, 86% of the time is spent with broadcast radio, based on Q2 2025 Edison Share of Ear data.
And it doesn’t matter if it is a full week, during work on weekday or weekday drive times, seven out of every 10 minutes is spent with broadcast radio.
But radio isn’t just about connecting with consumers, it is also about delivering results for brands. In a media-mixed plan, when 20% of the existing dollars was shifted to broadcast radio, the result was a reach level previously delivered in one month; it was now delivered in one week. These results were based on Nielsen Media Impact (NMI) data. In a Nielsen Attitude on Ads Study, broadcast radio drove brand trial. When products are promoted on local broadcast radio, Black consumers are more likely to try the brand.
Brands interested in growing their business should seek out and connect with this influential consumer group. Including broadcast radio in the marketing plans is a very important part of that growth strategy. Why? Broadcast radio is a part of their local community and a part of their daily lives.