Local businesses have been marketing their goods and services on Philadelphia radio since February 8, 1922. That's when The Bureau of Navigation, Radio Services Division, of the United States Department of Commerce granted a license to station WGL. This station was the 42nd to be licensed in the country.

Who could have guessed that 101 years later, advertising on Philadelphia radio would still be the best advertising option for all types of retailers and business owners.

Every week, according to Nielsen, Philadelphia radio reaches 3,740,743 adult consumers. This reach is significantly higher than all other advertising options including local TV, cable, social media, streaming video, online audio, and newspapers.

Reach, according to Nielsen, is the audience metric most responsible for driving the success of an advertising campaign. Only the message itself carries more sway.

According to Nielsen, 3,740,743 adults tune in to their favorite Philadelphia 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.

Philadelphia radio's unchallenged reach is why many local business owners depend on the medium to capture the largest possible share of the $108 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 Philadelphia.

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

Philadelphia radio reaches more local consumers each week than any other advertising medium.

According to Nielsen, 3,740,743 adults tune in to their favorite AM/FM stations every week.  This is significantly more consumers than are reached by Philadelphia TV, cable, streaming video, streaming audio, social media, or newspapers.

AM/FM radio's dominance among local consumers is driven, in large part, by the 3.8 million Philadelphia-area adults who take to the road in their car or truck every week, according to Neilsen.

Local business owners have been advertising on Philadelphia radio since WGL first signed-on in 1922.  But, back then, there were only two options for reaching a mass audience: newspapers and radio.

Today, though, advertisers have an over-abundance of marketing options both over-the-air and online. But every week, according to Nielsen, 3.7 million adults listen to a Philadelphia radio station, giving the 101-year-old medium, by far, the biggest reach amongst local consumers.

A new report released last week by Nielsen underscores AM/FM radio's durable reach among all media.

Despite an abundance of media options, Philadelphia radio reaches the most consumers every week. 

According to Nielsen, every week 3.7 million adults tune in to their favorite Philadelphia stations. This is more than watch local TV stations, cable, or streaming video. It is more than browse social media. It is more than listen to streaming audio services or podcasts. It is more than read local newspapers.

Not all listening to Philadelphia radio happens on car radios, table-top radios, or boom boxes. Instead, local consumers also use their smartphones, computers, and tablets as a way to connect to their favorite local stations.

Neilsen finds that 22.6% of all consumers who listen to a Philadelphia radio station over the air will, at some point during the month, also connect to a local station via the internet. As a matter of fact, during a typical hour, Nielsen data suggests that 16.4% of a station's total audience is listening on a device other than a traditional receiver.

There are about 3,500,000 registered passenger vehicles in the Philadelphia area. Some are cars. Some are trucks. Some are Hondas. Some are Fords. Some are Teslas. Some have four doors. Some have two. Some go fast. Some go slow. Some guzzle gas. Some sip. Some are red. Some are blue.

The one thing that almost every car and truck in the Philadelphia area have in common, though, is the AM/FM radio smack-dab in the middle of the dashboard.

The first car radio went on sale in 1930. It was an invention of the Galvin Manufacturing Company. The company named the radio 'Motorola,' and its cost was $130, around $2000 in today's dollars. By 1935, more than three million car radios had been installed.

Today, AM/FM radio is part of every car and truck on Philadelphia area roads. In addition to the radio, many of these vehicles also provide drivers with other audio options, including a CD player, Sirius/XM, Pandora, Spotify, podcasts, and easy access to personal MP3 collections.

It is fair, then, for small business owners who depend on Philadelphia radio to advertise their goods and services to ask: with all the audio options on today's dashboards, is anyone listening to local AM/FM radio in the car anymore?

Right now, at least one of the 237,665 businesses located in the Delaware Valley is thinking about using the phrase 'March Madness' as part of upcoming advertising and marketing plans. Why not? It's a great use of alliteration. It's a familiar term. And, it's that time of year.

A furniture store in King of Prussia might think it would be clever to use 'March Madness' in its commercials on Philadelphia radio to promote a big spring sale. A non-profit in Cherry Hill feels it would be a good way to describe its charity fun run on social media and online advertising. A sports bar in Bucks County believes it would be a no-brainer to use the term in streaming video and audio ads to bring in scores of basketball fans.

It is, indeed,  tempting for a Philadelphia small business owner to use this term for advertising or marketing purposes. But,  to avoid a costly legal battle, the use of this trademarked phrase should be a non-starter. Here's why.

Delaware Valley business owners are expected to spend $2.3 billion advertising online in 2022. This, according to Borrell Associates, a company that tracks advertising expenditures across the country.

Borrell's forecast indicates that almost 50% of Philadelphia's online expenditures will be in the form of paid search. The most recognizable type of this advertising is the paid ads that appear adjacent to the results of almost every search query on Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Borrell's forecast also indicates that approximately 28% of online expenditures will be in the form of display advertising. This consists of traditional banner ads that appear across millions of websites and apps, including social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. According to SmallBizGenius.net, the average Philadelphia area consumer is served more than 1700 of these ads per month.

Video advertising in Philadelphia is forecast to account for 21% of all online ad dollars in 2022. Like search and display, millions of websites can support this type of advertising. This includes sites, apps, and platforms like YouTube, Roku Channel, Hulu, Paramount+, and most social media sites.

The remainder of online advertising dollars is expected to be spent on audio advertising, including streaming sites like Pandora and Spotify; or email marketing campaigns.

When WGL-AM became Philadelphia's first radio station in 1922, there was no Facebook, no Xfinity, no Sirius/XM, no Netflix, and no podcasts. It would be 19 years before there was even a local TV station.  Consequently, it was pretty easy for radio to become the number one reach medium among local consumers.

Over the past 99 years, Philadelphia business owners have come to depend on the mammoth reach of radio among local shoppers to successfully market the goods and services they sell. Advertising on Philadelphia radio has helped Delaware Valley companies to survive and thrive during world wars, natural disasters, recessions, depressions, and even a pandemic.

Heading into 2022, local consumers have more media choices than ever before. But, despite the overabundance of social media, video streaming, audio streaming, cable, and other technological marvels, Philadelphia radio is still the most used advertising medium.

According to Nielsen, 1,224,829 Delaware Valley consumers listened to or downloaded a podcast during the past 30 days. This is 28.9% of the adult population.

A podcast is a downloadable digital audio file available to listeners on an internet-connected device like a smartphone, tablet, or computer. These files are typically part of series focusing on a particular theme such as true crime, professional football, politics, or pop culture.

Philadelphia consumers can listen to their favorite podcasts whenever they choose using apps like Spotify, Pandora, Google, and Stitcher. The most used podcasting app, though, is Apple Podcasts.

Research from PodcastHosing.org indicates that Philadelphia consumers can access more than 2,000,000 podcast series comprising over 48,000,000 unique episodes. According to data compiled by Edison research, the top 10 podcasts during the second quarter of 2021 were: