According to Nielsen, 2,804,826 adults tune in to their favorite Detroit radio stations every week. This is significantly more consumers than are reached by all other advertising-supported media, including local TV, local cable, streaming video, social media, online audio, and local newspapers.

Detroit radio's unchallenged reach is why many local business owners depend on the medium to capture the largest possible share of the $88.4 billion dollars consumers are expected to spend at retail this year.

Other local small business owners, however, may be surprised to learn that by most marketing metrics, radio remains the best way to advertise in Detroit.

Here are four more facts about AM/FM radio that may surprise many local marketers.

Every week, according to Nielsen, Detroit radio reaches 2,804,826 adults. This is more consumers than use any other medium, including local TV, local cable, streaming video, social media, online audio, and newspapers.

Reach, though, is only one component used to calculate ratings.  The other metric that contributes to the rating formula is the time spent using each medium. So, although for the past 10 years, AM/FM radio's reach has been significantly higher than the reach of local TV, consumers spent considerably more time watching TV. As a result of the math, TV has enjoyed higher ratings than radio.

For the first time, however, AM/FM radio ratings have exceeded local TV ratings by three percent among the key advertising demographic of 18-49-year-olds, according to Nielsen's Total Audience Data for the third quarter of 2023.

In the Detroit area, there are 1,741,591 18-49-year-olds, the majority of whom are millennials, a generation that now accounts for nearly one-third of all retail spending.

The combined weekly reach of Detroit's broadcast television stations has slipped to 73.2% of all adults, according to Nielsen. These stations include WJBK, WDIV, WXYZ, WWJ, and WTVS.  

The combined Detroit TV audience now falls just ahead of cable programming at 72.7% and streaming platforms at 62.3%. To put this into perspective, none of the three video media is a match for Detroit radio which reaches more than 79.4% of local adults every week.

But although the reach of broadcast TV, cable, and streaming are neck-and-neck, the share of time consumers spend with each of these media is dramatically different.

According to Nielsen research, 2.7 million people in the Southeast Michigan area will likely participate in the upcoming election on November 8th. To sway these voters, candidates and political action committees are expected to spend a record amount on advertising.

AdImpact, a company that measures advertising expenditures by political campaigns, says more than $3.6 billion have been spent to reach voters so far in 2022. This puts spending on a course to obliterate the record level of campaign dollars set during the 2020 presidential elections.

Despite crumbling ratings, through August 1st, 58% of all political spending has been dished out to local TV stations, according to AdImpact.

Nielsen reports that since 2017, the reach of broadcast TV stations like WJBK, WDIV, WXYZ, WWJ, and WTVS has decayed by 10%.

During the past seven days. according to Nielsen, only 74.7% of local consumers tuned in to Detroit television stations like WJBK, WDIV, WXYZ, WWJ, and WTVS.  TV's diminishing reach among adults 18 and older has been eclipsed by the audience size for social media, cable, and Detroit radio. Furthermore, streaming video services such as Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and Disney+ are quickly reaching parity with over-the-air options.

The erosion of local TV station audiences is stunning when comparing prime-time ratings from the past.  In 1980, the highest-ranked TV show was Cheers with a 21.3 rating. The 30th-ranked show was The Wonder Years with a 14.2 rating.

Twenty years later, Survivor was the number one show with a 17.4 rating and Family Law was the 30th ranked show with an 8.8 rating.

Finally, in 2019, Sunday Night Football was the number one ranked show with a 10.9 rating. Survivor tied with Dancing With The Stars in 30th place with a 5.5 rating.

It is stunning to think that the number one TV show in 2019 had a 24% lower rating than the 30th-ranked show in 1980.

Every week, 3.3 million Southeast Michigan consumers watch something on TV.

Not too many years ago, when a Detroit consumer sat down to watch TV, the program options were limited to what was on WJBK, WDIV, WXYZ, WWJ, WTVS, or maybe, what was on a handful of cable channels.  That was then. This is now.

Today, according to Nielsen, each time a TV is turned on in a Detroit living room, the viewer has more than 817,000 options not only from broadcast stations and cable systems, but also from streaming video platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube, Amazon, Tubi, Crackle, and FreeVee.

Of course, Detroit consumers don't even need to sit down in front of their big-screen LCD, anymore. Most of the 817,000 available programs can also be viewed on their computers, tablets, gaming devices, and smartphones. But as far as viewers are concerned, though, it's all just television.

Every week, 2.1 million Southeast Michigan adults watch video programs delivered via the internet. This content goes by several interchangeable names, including OTT (Over-The-Top Television), CTV (Connected TV), and Streaming Video. For this article, we will refer to this type of content as Streaming TV.

Unlike traditional TV, cable, and satellite where the viewer needs to be in a fixed location, Detroit consumers can access streaming TV anywhere using an internet-connected device. These include SmartTVs, Firesticks, Roku, smartphones, computers, laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles.

In all, according to Nielsen, 95.6% of Detroit households have one or more devices capable of connecting to streaming TV. Although this medium is still new, streaming TV now rivals legacy media in its ability to reach local consumers.

Every week, Detroit consumers are spending more-and-more time engaged with streaming TV.

It wasn't too long ago when advertising on Detroit television stations was considered the gold standard for marketing by local business owners. But over the past few years, the number of viewers reached by WJBK, WDIV, WXYZ, WWJ, and WTVS has plummeted. In all only 78% of adult consumers now tune-in to at least one of these channels during the week, according to Nielsen.

The consumption of video content isn't diminishing among Southeast Michigan consumers. What has changed, though, is how they are watching it.

In November, according to Nielsen, the share of time watching broadcast television has fallen behind other video options including cable programing and internet-delivered choices such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and hundreds of other streaming networks.

It used to be so simple. When a small business owner wanted to advertise on Detroit television, there were only a few options including, WJBK, WDIV, WXYZ, WWJ, and WTVS. But slowly, the number of options expanded to include cable channels provided by Xfinity, AT&T, DirecTV, and Spectrum.

Heading in 2022, local advertisers have even more options as internet-connected devices deliver hundreds of more programming choices to Southeast Michigan consumers. Collectively, this type of content is called OTT (Over-The-Top-Television) or CTV (Connected-Television). For the purpose of this discussion, OTT & CTV will be referred to singularly as streaming video.

Streaming video can be viewed on any device that can connect to the internet. This includes computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Programing can also be accessed using a smart-TV, Roku Stick, Amazon Fire Stick, or a game console. In all, according to Nielsen, 95.5% of Detroit households own a device capable of receiving streaming video.

In all, says Nielsen, 2.1 million consumers watch streaming video content every week. Combined, these internet channels now reach more adults every week than local newspapers, podcasts, and digital audio services like Pandora, Spotify, Sirius/XM. Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio.

Surprisingly, streaming video now reaches almost as many adults as local TV and local cable.

Every week, according to Nielsen, 3.7 million adult consumers in Southeast Michigan watch something on television. But, of course, the definition of what it means to watch TV has changed since the time when the number of available viewing options could be counted on the fingers of a single hand.

Today, Detroit consumers have a gargantuan number of viewing choices. This includes programs from stations like WJBK, WDIV, WXYZ, WWJ, and WTVS. Or maybe cable and satellite systems like Xfinity, AT&T, DirecTV, and Spectrum. There's also content delivered over the internet from Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.

No longer are Detroit consumers tied to the 21-inch Zenith in their living rooms. Instead, TV can be watched on giant LCDs, smartphones, and tablets from any room in the house, in the backseat of their cars, or practically anywhere else.

The best way to think about TV watching in Detroit is in terms of three buckets:

1. Over-the-air...including all broadcast channels
2. Cable...including all premium and non-premium programming
3. Internet...including all streaming services. This is also known as OTT or CTV

Here's how many Detroit adult viewers fall into each bucket. Remember, viewers are not limited to a single bucket.