Pay-TV is struggling to survive COVID-19.

Before the onset of the pandemic, Nielsen reported that 64%% of Clark County households received their television programs from cable systems, telephone companies, or satellite operators.  That number, however, is plummeting.

Pay-TV providers in the Las Vegas area include Cox, Dish, CenturyLink, and DirecTV.

"Cord-cutting, people dropping their cable and satellite TV subscriptions, pre-dates the onset of Covid-19. But the pandemic is exaggerating the trend, creating deeper issuers for programming that relies on those services for distribution," Eric Savitz wrote last week in Barron's.  This includes non-premium services like ESPN, TBS, TNT, USA, CNN, and Discovery.

"LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield counts a loss of 1.96 million subscribers to cable, satellite TV, and virtual cable services combined in the first quarter," Savitz continued. "This is the worst combined quarterly drop ever, down 6% from a year ago."

Greenfield said in an interview with Barron’s that what is especially sobering is that most of the first quarter activity pre-dated the virus. The numbers are likely to get considerably worse in the second quarter.

Every week, 1,502,898 adult consumers tune-in to a Las Vegas radio station. That is way more than are reached by other media, including local television, newspaper, social media, or streaming audio sites like Pandora and Spotify.

A more significant number for thousands of Clark County small business owners who advertise on Las Vegas radio is how many of these listeners stick around when their commercials come on.

A 2011 Nielsen study discovered that, on average, 93% of listeners stayed with the radio station they are tuned-to when the commercials come on. That number amazed many advertisers at the time who believed that audiences were far more likely to defect when the music stopped.

A lot has changed since 2011. Nevada consumers have many more media options and can instantly connect to each  with a button-push, mouse-click, screen-tap, or voice command. With all of these choices, do radio audiences still stay tuned during commercial breaks?

The chaos created in Clark County by the onset of Coronavirus has been a disruptive force among consumers. 

Work routines, buying habits, family life, and media consumption have all been palpably affected. These are all factors that need to be considered by small business owners who continue to advertise their goods and services during the crisis.

Before the current chaos, advertising on Las Vegas radio, by any metric, was the best way a local small business could advertise.

For instance, pre-Coronavirus, 1.5 million adult consumers tuned-in to a Las Vegas radio station every week. This is significantly more than watched local TV, read a newspaper, accessed social media, or streamed audio from sites like Pandora and Spotify.

New research released from Nielsen indicates that amidst the current crisis, listening to local radio remains little changed. This is great news for those Nevada small business owners who are depending on advertising for their long-term survival.

Clark County consumers spent more than $45.6 billion with retailers last year. The National Retail Federation forecasts 4.1% more will be spent this year.

Who are the shoppers that will be spending all this money?

According to Nielsen, 43.4% of retail dollars are spent by Las Vegas area consumers over the age of 50. This may surprise many small business owners because older consumers comprise only 35% of the area's adult population.

These older consumers account for a substantial share of spending in almost every retail category. This includes furniture, cars, pet supplies, fast food, and electronics.

To earn a share of these massive dollars spent by these older consumers requires Las Vegas small business owners to advertise.

Retailers in Clark County rang-up $45,669,580,000 in retail sales last year, according to Nielsen. But wait. It's about to get better.

The National Retail Federation forecasts that in 2020, sales will increase by as much as 4.1%. This will create another $1.9 billion for local small business owners.  

“The economy is growing at a more modest pace, but the underlying economic fundamentals remain in place and are positive,” stated NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz. “Consumers remain upbeat and have the confidence to spend, and the steady wage growth that has come with the strong job market is fueling their spending. The state of the consumer is very healthy.

To claim a fair share of this enlarged pool of spending will require Las Vegas small business owners to advertise.

“Think you have a great product?” asks the U.S. Small Business Administration. “Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.”  

There is alarming news for Clark County small business owners who advertise on Las Vegas television stations: broadcast TV viewers are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Nielsen reports that halfway through the first quarter of this year, the number of people using television has dropped 7.5%. This compares to -6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019, and -7.0% a year ago,

"If the trend holds, it would represent the largest quarterly decline for TV viewership in our data set," explains UBS analyst John C. Hodulikadding. "Trends have worsened across most age demos with persons 25-34 now falling -17% vs. low double-digit declines throughout 2019. The persons 55+ demo continues to trend down -2%, similar to 2019 (the first year of declining ratings for the demo)."

Radio listenership, on the other hand, has remained quite stable, according to Nielsen. Since 1970, the medium has reached more than 9-in-10 consumers every week.

How quickly the millennials have grown up.

According to Nielsen, 71.5% of all Clark County parents with children under the age of 18 are millennials.  

From the time their kids are born until they reach they are 17, these young parents will, spend, on average, $233,000 per child. This does not include the cost of college.

Currently, there are 517,742 children under the age of 18 living in the Las Vegas area. That makes the local parenting economy worth upwards of $118 billion. These dollars are being spent, among other things, on diapers, daycare, transportation, toys, education, electronics, clothing, and health care.

For Clark County small business owners interested in competing for a substantial portion of this multi-billion dollar pool of parental cash, they must advertise to millennial moms and dads. By almost any measurement, advertising on Las Vegas radio is the best way to reach this audience.

March is the biggest single month for used car sales in Las Vegas. During these 31 days alone, local pre-owned vehicle dealers are expected to bring in $83 million in sales. This will represent 10% of their annual revenue.

By the end of May, these dealers owners will sell more than $230 million worth of pre-owned cars and trucks. This, undoubtedly, makes March-May 'used car season' in Las Vegas.

Although most Clark County used car dealers are small business owners, they do really big business. In all, over the next 12 months, more than 280,000 pre-owned vehicles will be driven off their lots.

To capture a larger share of the area's $830 million used car market requires pre-owned vehicle dealers to advertise. By any measure, the best way for these business owners to advertise is on Las Vegas radio.

Low unemployment, a boom in housing starts, and confident consumers are propelling robust sales for Las Vegas furniture stores.

In 2019, local consumers in Clark County spent $950,000,000 on furniture and home furnishing. This number is expected to grow.

Based on estimates developed by Furniture Today’s Strategic Insights team and Easy Analytic Software Inc. (EASI), the total furniture and bedding market is projected to expand by more than 22% by 2024.

If a Las Vegas small business owner who sells furniture, furnishings, or home decor would like to grab a larger share of this expanding market, then advertising is necessary.  By almost every key metric, advertising on local radio is a sound marketing investment.

Small business owners have been advertising on Las Vegas radio since the first station, KENO, went on the air in 1940.  By almost every metric, the medium remains the best way to successfully market goods and services to local consumers.

Before Clark County small businesses finalize their marketing plans for this year, here are five facts they should know about radio advertising.