Tennis Reports On Radio Net A Younger, More Engaged, More Affluent Audience.

Data from MRI-Simmons shows that AM/FM radio reports on tennis’ Grand Slam tournaments attract an audience that is younger, more likely to be employed full time, and more passionate about tennis and sports in general, compared to TV’s tennis audience. There’s good news for advertisers, too, as tennis’ radio audience is also more likely to buy high-ticket items.

“While tennis tournament reports and updates are available both on TV and AM/FM radio, each broadcast has a very different audience profile,” Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard says in Westwood One’s weekly blog. “The AM/FM radio audience for tennis coverage is affluent and employed, and in the market for a wide array of major purchases. AM/FM radio listeners are [also] far more engaged with sports and tennis, which generates greater advertising effectiveness and impact.”

MRI-Simmons’ research finds tennis’ AM/FM listeners’ median age, at 38, is significantly younger than TV tennis viewers’ 55. The radio audience is also more likely to have full-time employment (52% vs. TV’s 48%), have children in the household (49% vs. 30%), and have three or more people in the household (66% vs. 46%).

“Across every major sport (NFL, NCAA, NHL, etc.), the AM/FM radio audience is much younger, employed, and more likely to have children than the TV audience,” Bouvard says. “The tennis audience is no different.”

As to these listeners’ passion for tennis and other sports, they’re 75% more likely to have attended any sports event, 10% more likely to have used a sports app, 33% more likely to be considered a sports guru by family and friends, 21% more likely to be considered a super sports fan, and twice as likely to participate in fantasy sports, than tennis’ TV audience.

Additionally, AM/FM’s tennis audience is 31% more likely to be a tennis “super fan” — defined as 8-10, on a 0-10 scale of interest — and 163% more likely to say they’re a 10 on that scale, vs. TV, while five times more likely to attract sports bettors, and 17% more likely to have purchased licensed tennis clothing in the past 12 months.

As for purchasing power, Bouvard says, “As the AM/FM radio audience for tennis comes from larger, younger households, the propensity for major purchases is much stronger than among the TV tennis audience.”

MRI-Simmons’ study shows that not only are tennis listeners more likely to be in-market for major purchases in the next 12 months, they’re also more likely to influence other consumers than TV viewers, extending commercial impact beyond ad exposure. That includes greater likelihood to be influential — defined by MRI-Simmons as “deeply familiar with a product category, frequent recommenders across social networks, highly trusted, and word-of-mouth leaders for products and services” — when it comes to alcoholic beverages, fashion, computers, coffee, automobiles and cooking products.

Vivvix/Kantar shows the biggest Grand Slam spenders on TV include business-to-business firms, financial services, luxury goods, telecom, beer, and even quick service restaurants — many of which are or have been radio advertisers. With the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open still to come, this is the time to show these brands how much more effective moving some of their budgets to tennis reports on radio can be.