Category: Contributor Blogs

For African Americans, content is the common language. The U.S. Black population spends more time with media than any other group, with content engagement that consistently drives breakout hits and trending topics alike. Increasingly, Black consumers are taking control of both the economic and media influence they wield and using it to invest in Black experiences, Black communities and Black content. And as a collective, the Black community represented nearly $1.6 trillion of buying power last year. As the media industry looks to be more inclusive of Black storytellers, while growing its bottom line and brand awareness with Black audiences, understanding who they are, where they’re connected and how they’re changing is as important as ever. And for Black audiences, they are connecting with audio.

Tuning into radio’s potential 

Among Black listeners, radio continues to reach a significant portion of the Black community: 91% of the Black population in a month. In fact, Black listeners spend more time with radio than any other group—20 minutes longer than the average of the total population.

Weekly reach metrics among Black persons 18+

• Radio: 86%
• App/web on smartphone: 81%
• Live/time-shifted TV: 78%
• Streaming audio on smartphone: 48%
• Satellite radio: 15%

Source: Nielsen Comparable Metrics, Q3 2021

And Black-owned radio stations play a key role in that engagement, delivering more than 6.4 million African American listeners every week. Jim Winston, President of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters emphasized the important connection to Black-owned broadcasters: “Nielsen’s latest report helps to quantify the unique impact Black-owned radio has within our communities. It’s a reminder of the opportunity for brands to engage and partner with Black-owned broadcasters to connect with Black consumers in an authentic way. Advertising with Black-owned television and radio stations offers an important and unique opportunity to connect with our communities and deliver messages for brands from voices Black consumers trust.”

Buying ads with Black-owned media gives advertisers a chance to partner with companies that hold a unique position and expertise within Black communities and culture.

Importantly, Black radio listeners value brand reputation. For home care, 84% are more likely to switch based on new brand reputation and for personal care, 37% are more likely to switch based on new brand reputation. And there is ample opportunity for new providers, with many Black radio listeners keeping their options open. For example, 44% of listeners are more likely to switch cell phone carriers in the next 12 months and 15% are more likely to switch auto insurance in the next 12 months.

Positive momentum of podcasting

Podcast listenership and engagement is growing significantly among the Black audience, which is a notable opportunity for brands and media owners. In the past three years alone, the number of Black consumers using podcasts has increased by 70%.

The positive momentum of podcasting is enticing more celebrity involvement and attracting big ad dollars. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is predicting that ad revenue will hit $2 billion by 2023, nearly 2.5x the $842 million generated last year. 

Importantly, podcast advertising—particularly when read by the host—drives stronger brand recall punch than more traditional forms of advertisements. For example, Nielsen’s Podcast Ad Effectiveness (PAE) solution has found that host-read ads drive a brand recall rate of 74% for Black audiences.

Additional Nielsen PAE data found:

• Exposure to podcast ads generated a 16% increase in awareness (higher than the Nielsen norm of 14%)
• On average, 68% think that the ad/sponsorship was a good fit with the podcast
• 70% plan to seek similar podcast content, and 62% plan to share the podcast content with friends
• Half (50%) were able to recall the ad on an unaided basis
• Six in ten (60%) of podcast listeners found the content most interesting, nearly half (46%) found the content to be entertaining, nearly four in ten (39%) found the content to be authentic, and more than a third (36%) found it to be credible 

For Black audiences, audio is not only used for entertainment, but especially during the pandemic, it has been an essential resource for news and information, and an escape from the stress of the day to day. Brands and agencies have an immense market opportunity to prioritize marketing strategies and campaigns to meet this valuable audience where they are connecting—on audio.

Methodology:

The data underpinning this article is pulled from:

• Nielsen Podcast Ad Effectiveness solution
• Nielsen Podcast Buying Power 
• Nielsen Audio National Regional database
• Nielsen RADAR 

Related Content:

• African American Diverse Intelligence Series report
• Diverse owned media report
• Podcasting today report

As a first-generation Latina in the U.S., I often hear, “Really, you don’t look Cuban.” Maybe it’s my light skin or my name. “Estacie” doesn’t exactly translate very easily. Perhaps it’s the other person’s familiarity with Cuban actors or musicians. Or maybe it is the way I speak English.

I often respond in Spanish “Si, soy Cubana,” knowing I am possibly opening myself up to a language duel—or quizas muchas preguntas.

You see, the thing about language proficiency is that it isn’t a proxy for language preference or choice. Meaning: how and when I choose to speak Spanish or how well you might think I speak English, isn’t representative of my personal language preference for connection. And for nearly three-fourths of all Latinos in the U.S. who speak Spanish, engaging in our language is un privilegio and a choice, not a necessity. 

So what does this engagement look like? Latinos today are demanding engaging, fresh, culturally relevant, and nuanced content on trusted platforms that value the unique U.S. Hispanic experience. This is so much more than just serving up “Spanish-language content”. It is our collective demand for meaningful, representative content that delivers a bridge to our culture; serving up a place to feel seen, and be seen in content. Interestingly, it is incredibly difficult to find that special combination outside of the Spanish language ecosystem. 

Let me explain. Much of the content Latinos are seeking is in Spanish, regardless of their “primary” language. For example, in our Spring 2021 national radio panel, we see that a full 74% of Hispanics who listen to Tejano music are English dominant, along with 40% of listeners of Latino Urban, with 69% of listeners of Spanish Tropical Format identifying as bilingual. Spanish language content doesn’t only draw in Spanish speakers. We see this phenomenon in TV too, where in 2021, a Spanish language show hit the top 10 list for all streamed content for all audiences in any language. 

All in all, 37% of all the impressions from Hispanic viewers to Spanish language content in May 2021 were from English-speaking Hispanics. That’s more than 50 million impressions, showing how Spanish language programming delivers more than in language programming—it delivers a world where Hispanics, of any language proclivity, find relevance and community.

And if those examples of the power of Spanish language content to deliver engaged English speakers aren’t enough to convince you, look to social media to see the growing Spanish language presence all over English speakers’ social media feeds. Young U.S.-born Hispanics are influencing today’s most newsworthy and fun trends, by sharing Spanish-language content ushering its cross over to general market pop culture. Late last year the popular “no me importa” remixes on TikTok or the “Mi Mujer Me Gobierna” dance  remixes on Instagram Reels, each with millions of views flooded your English-language feed. This is happening because the meaning—that specific sentiment—can only be expressed in Spanish; so we share it leading to its consumption by English and Spanish speakers alike. 

Delivering the programming audiences want

As the data illustrates, language reliance isn’t the reason why Latinos consume Spanish content; Spanish language content is consumed because more than anything, it delivers programming that is meaningful where we are represented.

When it comes to inclusion and representation, Latinos have firm expectations of content creators, media platforms, and brand creative. So the urgency to get representation right is real: Latinos want to see a range of their lived experiences, intersectional identities, and ethnic plurality on TV—not just one or two characters in a larger cast. And for brands with the increased scrutiny around social equity—being in content where Latino storylines are told authentically, is a brand safety measure, good corporate citizenship, and really good business. Showing up in the right content matters. 

In a recent Nielsen study, we asked Hispanics how important representative content was to them. Approximately 60% of Latinos say they are more likely to watch content that features their identity group. Yet, 45% said they feel there is not enough representation of their identity group across TV. 

Unfortunately, they’re right. We make up 19% of the population, yet across all of broadcast television, streaming, and cable, Hispanic representation is about 10%. When we remove Spanish language TV content from that bucket the representation number drops to 6%—telling us that a large proportion of Latino representation on the TV glass is actually coming from Spanish language TV. 

This leaves us with the fact that Spanish language TV is among the most representative ecosystems on TV. Of course it is representative of Hispanics, but it also has the best gender representation found anywhere on TV. Women are being represented at or above parity across the Spanish language ecosystem, Afro-Latinos with visibility of more than 2x the population estimate and Hispanic LGBTQ+ are represented at parity on all Spanish language TV. 

Spanish language TV offers a space, beyond just the incredible representation, where thematic attributes and options are abundant for Latino presence because of the breadth of the programming. From news to novelas, from sitcoms to drama, Latinos on Spanish language TV are presented in the broadest range of thematic content. Simply put, because there is more content featuring Latinos, there are more positive portrayals and themes. 

Most importantly, there is a distinct difference between visibility and quality representation. There is magic in good storytelling, but if we aren’t represented and present in those stories, or if we are just passing by in a scene, then we are left out of that magic. Spanish language TV delivers that magic with incomparable representation and inclusion. 

For additional insights, download Nielsen’s recent Being seen on screen report.

Few industries have been immune to the effects of the global pandemic, but the impact has been particularly notable for global sports. While the return of fans at live events midway through 2021 was cheered by all, behaviors have evolved too much for the sports industry to simply snap back to a mirror image of its pre-COVID self, particularly with respect to how fans engage with sports content.

The proliferation of non-traditional media channels, amplified by the acceleration of digital adoption over the past two years, has forever changed the media landscape–including how fans engage with sports. Today, 40.7% of global sports fans¹ opt to stream live sports events through digital platforms, a percentage that reflects both fans’ appetite for sports content and the growing wealth of available over-the-top (OTT) options for fans to choose from.

Yet while the expansion of non-traditional media channels has forever changed the sports viewing landscape, the viewership and media value impact of independent sports rightsholders like DAZN has been significant, but largely outside of the U.S.

There is no substitute for live sports action, but the proliferation of content across an expanding array of platforms has sparked increased consumption of additional sports content—both related to and not related to live matches. This presents an array of opportunity for both rightsholders and brands alike, and it illuminates the growing importance of sports-related content, especially among younger generations. For example, just under 44% of fans 16-29 who watch non-live sports content that’s related to live matches do so via digital, which is just 0.4% less than those who watch live matches via digital.

The demand for content related to a live event (match announcements, highlights, recap videos, etc.) is almost as high as it is for digitally delivered events themselves. And content unrelated to a live event (docuseries, behind the scenes, virtual events, etc.) is just slightly less sought after than live digital event content. Aside from attracting fans of specific leagues and teams, the non-live sports content has the power to attract new audiences to sports as well, especially when the content lives outside of the channels that are most commonly associated with sports matches (e.g., free-to-air and paid TV).

Importantly, media consumption is no longer limited to a single screen, even when a big match is on. For many, one screen isn’t enough, as the general population has increased its multi-screen viewing activities (social media, texting, playing games, ordering food) by an average of 5% over the last year, with this percentage doubling to 10% among Gen Z².

While much of the second-screen activity relates to social media engagement, especially as consumers seek new ways to be together, ordering food and online gaming have picked up steam throughout the pandemic, with Gen Z driving the greatest penetrations at 26.5% and 31%, respectively.

There is no denying the impact that digital connectivity is having on the way consumers engage with media and sports content. As channel and device fragmentation increase, it will be critical for brands and rights holders to remain connected to shifting consumer behaviors to ensure they’re able to engage with them on the right platforms and in the right way.

For additional insight, download our 2022 Global Sports Marketing report.

Notes

1. Nielsen Fan Insights, August 2021, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, U.K. and U.S.
2. Nielsen Fan Insights August 2020 vs August 2021 for Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, U.K. and U.S.

Change is certainly nothing new, but its impact is seldom as sizable—or accelerated—as what the world has experienced over the past two years. For the sports industry, the return of fans at live events midway through 2021 was cheered by all, yet life has evolved too much during the pandemic for the sports industry to simply snap back to a mirror image of its pre-COVID self.

The tried and tested model of fandom has been challenged. As a result, fans have developed digital communities to drive connection with each other, their favorite athletes and their favorite teams. Fandom has shifted from large audiences physically together to more remote yet more engaged behavior. While ticket sales dipped, fans found new ways to build community: chatting, sharing, betting, and co-watching.

This report examines the global consumer shifts over the last two years and their impact on sports sponsorship models and content distribution.