Brexit concerns revealed by Radiocentre’s broadest ever stakeholder survey

The results of Radiocentre’s broadest ever stakeholder survey are in and reveal anxiety about the possible consequences of Brexit.

A total of 544 people contributed to the survey, launched in September. The industry body for commercial radio invited anyone with an interest in the sector to give their views. Unsurprisingly, the possible consequences of the vote to leave the EU were regarded as a big challenge facing respondents’ companies in the next 12 months. 33% of commercial radio stations and 35% of advertisers expressed concern about potential economic uncertainty.

Other findings from the survey include the following:

• there is still work to be done on demonstrating the role and dominance of radio in the wider audio market as evidenced by the fact that 30% of advertising customers believe that streaming will be the dominant audio format in the next 5 years
• 62% of sales teams in commercial radio groups find Radiocentre’s research and case studies particularly valuable
• there was a strong desire for Radiocentre to get out more: “I’d like to see a stronger presence in the regions,” was one respondent’s feedback, while another told Radiocentre to “get out of London and come and see us.”

The highest volume of responses (173) came from commercial radio stations and groups, with 111 respondents from media agencies and creative agencies supplying 86 responses. Other organisations that supplied feedback included advertisers, sales companies, regulators and parliamentarians.

Siobhan Kenny, CEO of Radiocentre says: “this survey has provided Radiocentre with an invaluable insight into the priorities of the commercial radio industry and given us some excellent pointers on how we can provide our members with a better service. Our See Radio Differently event in Manchester in November was sold out and we are planning more regional events in 2017. We will continue to collect new case studies and continue to position radio as part of a wider audio market as we all await and prepare for the new status quo.”