It has been 360 days since Radio 360 revolutionized radio audience measurement in Australia, and to mark the milestone Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) is releasing new insights made possible by the innovative system. 

Radio 360 was developed by GfK in response to the rapid evolution of audio consumption and to provide a holistic picture of listeners for agencies and advertisers. 

“Radio 360 was the first hybrid audience measurement system in the world when we launched it 360 days ago,” said Jo Dick, CRA chief commercial officer. “Now, through the combination of surveys, log files, and the MediaWatch wearable technology, advertisers have a more complete picture of listeners – who they are, when they are listening, and if it’s via broadcast or streaming.”

Ciaran Davis, chair of Commercial Radio & Audio and CEO of ARN Media, said Radio 360 continues to be a success: “We know that if brands invest just 11%* of their campaign budgets in radio they can double their effectiveness – and Radio 360 now gives media planners the insights they need to have that impact.

“There has never been a better time to invest in radio – our audiences keep growing to new record-highs and we are delivering world-leading innovation when it comes to radio measurement,” said Mr Davis.  

Sophie Madden, Media Federation of Australia CEO, said the introduction of Radio 360 had been quick and smooth, and offered an improved picture of radio listeners and their habits: It provides a more holistic view of the volume of digital listening and therefore helps agencies make more informed decisions in spending marketing dollars. In a fast-moving media landscape, constant improvements to how we measure and report are essential and we look forward to continuing to work with CRA on ongoing methodology enhancements.”

GfK Media Measurement Director Deb Hishon said the MediaWatch technology offered new insights into audience habits, outside of the traditional survey periods: “We used MediaWatch data to measure Summer listening and found that 91.1% of daily listeners continued to listen between 3 December 2023 and 28 January 2023, but at a slightly later time of day.

“The insights that wearable data provides were not available under the previous methodology, and it is fantastic that we can use these to further highlight the value of radio,” Ms Hishon said.

Most recently, the continuous monitoring of MediaWatch data showed a 40% spike in radio listeners during the tragic Bondi Westfield attack on 13 April, demonstrating how radio is a critical source of information for the community during significant events.