Public Radio Underwriting ROI: Perception vs. Reality
With the growth of digital underwriting, the demand for measurable ROI can be a challenge for many stations. Sponsors expect immediate results from digital campaigns and they know and expect the kind of instant metrics that digital placements can offer.
And while the temptation for sponsors to turn to performance-driven digital units in hopes of a “quick fix” is understandable, it is not the best way to leverage the unique value of public radio on behalf of our underwriters. The value of public radio – and, in fact, radio in general – is not in short-term sales.
“Right,” you say. “But you are preaching to the choir! How do we convince our underwriters?”
Acknowledge the Importance of Reach When it Comes to ROI
Two can play at the ROI game. As the RAB notes in their September 2025 newsletter, “every dollar invested in media requires a way to measure success, but not all methodology is created equal.” And the ROI for radio is really about reach and long-term branding, which, according to the RAB, “marketers need to foster along with short-term sales or they are leaving money on the table.”
Marketers too seem to understand the importance of reach when it comes to ROI, with 99% of those polled in RAB’s ongoing Audio Pulse Poll indicating that reach is important or very important to their brands’ media strategy.
Demonstrate the Broad Reach of Radio
But there is a disconnect when it comes to reality, with only 31% of marketers identifying radio as the #1 reach medium. We need to remind our sponsors, that even in an increasingly fragmented media landscape, radio is still very much king when it comes to reaching adults 18+:
Indeed, radio’s actual share is over 2 ½ times greater than what marketers perceive:
Connect Radio to ROI
And this kind of powerful reach delivers real ROI. According to Nielsen’s Global Compass database, which aggregates data from roughly 25,000 campaign ROIs across the world, radio delivers the second highest ROI after social media, but above other media including video, digital display, and search – all digital units typically perceived by marketers as more valuable. Perception again is not reality:
With the reality of radio’s broad reach and strong ROI, it makes sense that adding radio to the media mix – especially as a companion to perceived popular digital units – helps improve overall campaign ROI.
And RAB has the case studies to prove it:
- Using Nielsen’s Media Impact planning data, Cumulus Westwood One was able to show marketers that if they shift just 10% of their budget from TV, CTV, and digital plans to AM/FM radio — without increasing total budget — the overall buy’s reach will spike by 20%:
- Katz Radio Group implemented a web-traffic study for an e-commerce brand during the ultracompetitive holiday season to directly attribute traffic back to the medium. Overall, the radio campaign achieved an average lift in web traffic of 27%:
- And iHeartMedia leveraged metrics to track a pharmaceutical OTC brand campaign’s impact on sales lift, which increased sales three-fold:
Connect ROI to Public Radio
But is this all reality for public radio? It’s true that many markets don’t have the same reach as their commercial broadcast counterparts and we are not exactly “ad-enabled” in the same way that iHeart and Spotify are. While that maybe true, it still holds true that:
- In most cases, your local broadcast radio service still reaches far more people than your display, streaming pre-roll, podcast and other digital units combined. And the same marketing principles apply as for commercial: Including broadcast in every package that goes out the door will help build scale and bolster the marketing effectiveness of your digital units and then some.
- Public radio audiences are loyal to NPR and don’t tend to listen to commercial radio. If a sponsor is “already buying commercial” because of the broader reach, they are missing out on a quality market segment. Public radio can complement existing commercial advertising and strengthen the results of a sponsor’s media mix overall.
- While we don’t accept advertising, there is tangible marketing value in the noncommercial, uncluttered environment we offer our sponsors, both on air and on digital platforms. Unlike commercial broadcast and digital radio, sponsor messages on public media enjoy higher recall and are acted upon. We build trust and purchase preference among a qualified audience like no other medium.
An uncluttered, trusted media environment that offers cost-effective multi-platform reach to a qualified unduplicated audience predisposed to do business with our sponsors. Talk about real ROI.
For more information and more data and graphics, check out this helpful presentation from the RAB.
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