A new study from Australia has found that not only is adoption of smart speaker devices on the rise, but that the devices are extending access to radio to more places and demonstrating that consumers in that country are open to the increasing possibilities of voice technology.
These were some of the findings from the latest Smart Audio Report Australia 2021, which found that a growing number of households are investing in smart speakers, are planning to purchase another speaker within the immediate future and place a high value on audio programming.
All in all, the report found that smart speakers are encouraging owners to listen to more music and news from online audio and AM/FM/DAB+ radio.
[Read: Is the Smart Speaker Like a New Age Home Radio?]
Ownership of smart speaker devices is on the rise across the board in Australia. The survey found that more than one quarter of Australians aged 12 or older — which comes to 5.6 million people — now own a smart speaker, a 53% jump from 2020 when only 17% owned smart speaker devices.
Photo: Getty Images Helen RossAmong those Australians that currently own a smart speaker, 24% of those households own three or more of those devices, up from 13% in 2020.
The survey also found that both smart speaker user satisfaction and the intention to purchase is high, with the report predicting that as many as 8.7 million devices will be added to Australian households.
Usage is also on the rise. Of those in Australia who already own a smart speaker, 67% use them on a daily basis while 88% use them at least once during the week. Among owners, 61% plan to purchase another device in the near future while 38% of non-speaker-owning households say they plan to purchase one in the next six months.
These figures are on par with American smart speaker ownership in 2021. In 2018, only 5% of Australians owned a smart speaker, compared to 18% in the United States. That gap narrowed in 2021 with 33% of Americans owning a smart speaker compared with 26% ownership in Australia.
The study also revealed how listeners were engaging with their smart speaker devices.
Forty-nine percent of Australians have used a voice assistant to interact with a brand or service. Sixty-seven percent of smart speaker owners listen to the device while multitasking, such as while cooking, doing chores or entertaining. Users are also reporting that smart speakers are changing the way that people interact with other technology — 49% say they’ve begun using their voice-operated assistant on their smartphone more frequently since purchasing a smart speaker device, with 40% saying they spend less time with other technology once they began using their smart speaker.
The report also touched on parental use of smart speakers. Fifty-one percent with children in the household said reducing screen time was a reason they purchased a smart speaker with 69% agreeing that the devices have made it easier to entertain children.
Among smart speaker brands, Google continues to dominate the smart speaker market in Australia with 24% owning a Google smart speaker, 3% owning an Amazon device and 1% owning an Apple HomePod.
Photo: Apple“Smart speakers have fundamentally changed the way people interact with media,” said Megan Lazovick, vice president at Edison Research, who presented the results in a webinar. The report was conducted by Edison Research and was commissioned by Commercial Radio Australia, the Australian commercial radio broadcasting group, along with TalkVia, an Australian technology company.
“It is a good bet that the Australian population will continue to grow more comfortable with this technology and opportunities will grow for those in audio and advertising if they embrace smart audio, too,” Lazovick said.
The Smart Audio Report Australia study was conducted via a national online survey of 5,000 adults aged 18 and older in Australia in April and May 2021. Additional data was taken from the Infinite Dial Australia from Commercial Radio Australia, Southern Cross Austereo/LiSTNR, Triton Digital and Edison Research.
The post Smart Speaker Usage on the Rise Down Under appeared first on Radio World.
Radio program provider American Public Media Group has named Heather Riddle as its new senior vice president and chief development officer.
She previously was vice president of institutional advancement and alumni relations at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. She starts on July 22.
Riddle succeeds Randi Yoder, who has retired.
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A release said Riddle will be responsible for “leading the vision and developing the strategy for APMG’s philanthropic support. She will direct the fundraising teams, cultivate lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with donors, oversee major campaigns, and implement innovative plans to inspire and secure essential contributions.”
In addition, “As a member of the executive team reporting to APMG’s CEO, Riddle will help to accelerate APMG’s ‘Audiences First 2025’ strategic plan, prioritizing the changing needs of the people and communities APMG serves while elevating the role of philanthropy in the organization’s future growth.”
She said, “I’m thrilled to join the APMG community of exceptional staff, loyal listeners, and members who believe in the mission of public media.”
Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post APM Picks Riddle appeared first on Radio World.
Despite an effort by the company’s founder to stop it, the Audio Division of the FCC’s Media Bureau has moved forward with the approval of Alpha Media‘s voluntary debtor-in-possession status.
As such, an emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection appears imminent.
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Sinclair Broadcast Group has created a position that will see an individual lead the company’s information security program across all business functions, charged with creating and executing Sinclair’s security vision, strategy and operating model across its entire portfolio.
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Crossings TV can be found over the air on low-power TV station KBTV-8 in Sacramento; on Comcast Xfinity systems in Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Francisco and Seattle-Tacoma; and on Charter Spectrum systems in Los Angeles in New York — some of the nation’s biggest Asian American population centers.
Why did Frank Washington, founder and CEO of the Sacramento-based channel, and COO Daniel Sakaya, each decide to focus their careers and attention to the build-out of a television channel that offers a variety of programming targeting all of these different groups?
They share this, and more, in this encore RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast from January 12, 2021, presented by DOT.FM.
Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Frank Washington” on Spreaker.
Global advertising spend is on course for 12.6% growth this year.
That’s an upgrade from the 6.7% initially projected, as the global ad market rebounds strongly from the COVID-19 downturn of last year.
It is a conclusion from business intelligence firm WARC.
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On July 1, an individual whose resume includes stints as EVP/Ad Sales and Marketing for TV One and, before that, as VP of Client Strategy for Viacom Media Networks officially took the reins as CEO of the owner of two New York City radio stations and Fairway Outdoor.
The company’s stock price actually dipped slightly, while remaining steadily in a range seen across 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic proving to be a non-issue.
On Monday, July 12, MediaCo Holding stock exploded like a West Coast wildfire. A day later, a bit of profiteering was taking shape.
Is this the latest example of Wall Street investors taking diversity commitments from Fortune 100 companies to the bank?
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The average audience for the three major cable news channels, as well as for the network and local TV news sectors, increased in 2020. That’s according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of the state of the U.S. news media.
Financially speaking, the cable and local TV news sectors saw an increase in revenue, while advertiser expenditures for the news programs of the three major networks remained steady.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday recommended $20 million for public broadcasting’s Next Generation Warning System within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the Fiscal Year 2022 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.
This funding would help support public broadcasting’s work in alert and warning and public safety communications.
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He’s most recently served as the VP/GM of the Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned FOX affiliate serving Omaha and The CW Network affiliate it runs via a local marketing agreement with Mitts Telecasting Co.
Now, after nearly 11 years in Mid-America, this 30-year local TV veteran is heading to the Rio Grande Valley for a new role with Nexstar Media Group.
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How does one pull the trigger and launch a podcast? Where should that podcast be launched? What’s the best way to increase the listener base?
These are the questions Podcasting Hall of Famer and School of Podcasting CEO Dave Jackson deals with daily. He addressed them, among others, in a lively session conducted live Tuesday during Streamline Publishing’s How to Make REAL MONEY Podcasting virtual conference.
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For the independent podcast, getting good distribution without the tech headaches is just as important as attracting sponsors. So, what’s the best route to take?
That was the focal point of a conversation between Podcast Business Journal and Radio Ink Editor Ed Ryan and two podcasting business leaders that served as a strong kickoff to the three-day How to Make REAL MONEY Podcasting virtual conference.
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As the clock strikes Midnight, low-power TV stations that haven’t been built yet and haven’t secured extensions from the FCC will disappear into the ether, with their respective licensees forfeiting the right to create them.
For some, the race against the clock meant engaging in deals before time expires. These fresh transactions involve such companies as HC2 Holdings and Gray Television, and noted brokerage Kalil & Co.
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