There are about 1,400,000 registered passenger vehicles in the Las Vegas 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 Las Vegas 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 Las Vegas 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 Las Vegas 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?

In 2020, there were 85,314 new cars and trucks registered in the Las Vegas metro area. This number is based on projections from the National Auto Dealers Associaton (NADA) and the U.S. Census bureau.

In all, says NADA, there are 97 new-car dealerships in Nevada. Despite the pandemic, these dealers, including those in the Las Vegas area, sold $8.3 billion worth of new vehicles.

Through June of this year, these same dealers have already rung up $5.4 billion in new car sales.

When it comes to buying new vehicles, Las Vegas consumers have a broad range of preferences. Some buyers want Fords while others want Chevrolets, Toyotas, or Teslas.  Some buyers want pick-up trucks, while others want sub-compacts, SUVs, or sports cars. Of course, some want blue vehicles, while others want pearl white, orchard green, or redolent red.

There is one purchase criterion, however, that most Las Vegas car buyers can agree on. They want an AM/FM radio smack-dab, in the middle of their dash.

At the dawn of 2020, Clark County small business owners were expecting the area's retail economy to expand by 4.1%. This optimism was stoked by the National Retail Federation's chief economist who said, "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."

By February, however, the country entered into a COVID-19 induced recession. Then, to slow the spread of the pandemic, on March 24, the Governor of Nevada locked the state down. This brought the Las Vegas area's $39.7 billion retail economy to a standstill.

As stores, restaurants, and offices in the Las Vegas area begin to re-open, consumers' appetite for spending is returning. According to Nielsen, loyal radio listeners are very likely to be first in line at the cash registers.

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.

For most of my lifetime, television advertising was considered the "gold standard" of marketing. For a Las Vegas small business owner craving massive reach, TV used to be the medium of choice.

Over the past few years, however, advertising on Las Vegas radio has become the dominant medium for achieving reach as television audiences dramatically erode.

Take last week for example. Almost 1,502,898 adult consumers tuned-in to their favorite Las Vegas radio stations. This is significantly more than watched local TV, read a local newspaper, or logged-on to a streaming media site like Pandora and Spotify.

 

For the past 40 years, Las Vegas radio has reached more than 90% of all consumers. But, look what has happened to TV's audience.

Advertising on Las Vegas radio stations is processed by the brain five-times faster than visual advertising.  This is awesome news for local business owners who depend on radio to market their goods and services.

Las Vegas consumers will recognize the first few notes of Jingle Bells five times faster than they can identify a picture of Santa Claus.  That's because it takes the human brain 5/100th of a second to process sound.  On the other hand, it takes a full quarter of a second to process visual stimuli.

This difference in processing time may seem inconsequential. But, for Las Vegas small business owners who is fighting to inject their advertising messages into the mind of consumers, that .20-second gap can be the difference between success and failure.

On November 1, 1940, KENO signed on as the first radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since then, local business owners have depended on radio advertising to successfully market their goods and service.

Using any advertising metric, despite the inundation of new media options, radio remains the most potent medium for fulfilling the marketing objectives of Las Vegas area business owners of every size.

In the age of all things digital, is advertising on Las Vegas radio still effective? Meet five local small business owners who say, YES!

"When we advertise on Las Vegas radio, we sell cars. Period. End of story," says Anthony Woods. He is a partner and General Manager of Centennial Toyota.

Last year was a huge year for Centennial. According to Mr. Woods, his team sold 6281 new and used cars setting a new record. "This volume makes us this 64th largest Toyota dealership in America out of 1,238.

"Las Vegas radio is our primary source of advertising, " says Mr. Woods. "We do a bit of digital and direct mail. Our television advertising is limited to the Hispanic market. And, we never use newspaper advertising.  But, we have been advertising consistently on Las Vegas radio stations since I came to the dealership 12 years ago."

Market research confirms Mr. Wood's decision to invest in advertising on Las Vegas radio stations. According to Nielsen, consumers in Las Vegas spend $1.8 billion each year for cars and trucks. This is more than what is spent on groceries and clothing combined.