According to Nielsen, 1,475,493 adults tune in to their favorite Las Vegas radio stations every week. This is significantly more consumers than are reached by all other advertising-supported media, including local TV, local cable, streaming video, social media, online audio, and local newspapers.

Las Vegas radio's unchallenged reach is why many local business owners depend on the medium to capture the largest possible share of the $45.1 billion dollars consumers are expected to spend at retail this year.

Other local small business owners, however, may be surprised to learn that by most marketing metrics, radio remains the best way to advertise in Las Vegas.

Here are four more facts about AM/FM radio that may surprise many local marketers.

Las Vegas radio reaches more local consumers each week than any other advertising medium.

According to Nielsen, 1,475,493 adults tune in to their favorite AM/FM stations every week.  This is significantly more consumers than are reached by Las Vegas TV, cable, streaming video, streaming audio, social media, or newspapers.

AM/FM radio's dominance among local consumers is driven, in large part, by the 1.7 million Las Vegas area adults who take to the road in their car or truck every week, according to Neilsen.

Every week, according to new Nielsen data, 1,516,694 adults tune in to a Las Vegas radio station. This is more consumers than use social media, access local cable, watch broadcast TV, stream video channels, listen to streaming audio, read a newspaper, or download a podcast.

Based on per capita estimates from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Las Vegas consumers are expected to spend between $34.7 and $35.4 billion at retail in 2022, a six to eight percent growth over the previous year. Utilizing radio's enormous advertising reach, local business owners can compel shoppers to spend this large pool of cash in their stores and on their websites.

The number of consumers reached is critical to the success of an advertising campaign.

According to a Nielsen study, after the actual content of the commercial message itself, reach is the most potent advertising element that can drive sales. Reach is more important than brand, recency, or even context. Las Vegas radio provides local business owners with the most significant reach among consumers.

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.

In 1930, when KGIX-AM became the first radio station in Las Vegas, many considered the medium a fad.  Even in 1937, a hit song by George Gershwin, Our Love Is Here To Stay, considered radio to be a "passing fancy and in time may go".

Las Vegas radio, however, has survived the advent of talking-movies, television, eight tracks, and cassettes in stereo.  More recently, radio has withstood a tsunami of digital options including, YouTube, SiriusXM, Pandora, and Spotify.

As the Coronavirus pandemic rolls over into a second year, Las Vegas radio has hung tough and not ceded its ground despite listener's shifting lifestyles.  This is crucial news for local small business owners who depend on local stations to market their goods and services.

Since 1930, advertising on Las Vegas radio has helped small business owners survive and thrive during times of peril. This includes world wars, natural disasters, depressions, and recessions.

Even during a pandemic, by almost every key marketing metric, radio advertising remains the best way for a Las Vegas business to market its goods and services.

To prove the point, here are five statistics that vividly demonstrate the value of advertising on Las Vegas radio.

There are 38 radio stations in Las Vegas. Each provides a unique format of news, sports, music, entertainment, and inspiration. Some stations broadcast in English. Others serve Spanish speakers. Some stations cater to millennials. Others appeal to Baby Boomers.  No doubt, there is a local radio station that fulfills the preferences of every listener.

Each week, according to Nielsen, 1.5 million adults tune-in to their favorite Las Vegas radio stations. This is more people than watch local TV, cable, or streaming channels. This is more than use Facebook and Instagram. This is more than read newspapers or connect to Pandora and Spotify. 

Despite the abundance of Las Vegas radio stations to choose between, Nielsen reports that, on average, adult consumers only listen to 2.9 each week.  So, which stations do local consumers choose?

In 1920, the few Las Vegas residents who owned a homemade crystal radio set might be able to tune-in KHJ from Los Angeles, one of the first stations in the western U.S.

From that time, many predicted radio's success would succumb to advances from new technologies. In 1927, the challenge came from talking movies. In the 1940s, the predators were 13-inch TV sets. In the 1970s, it was 8-track and cassette tapes. In the past 20 years, there was a multi-flank attack from iPods, Zunes, YouTube, Sirius, XM, Pandora, Spotify,

So far, all of these challengers have failed. Not even a pandemic has been able to remove radio as a vital force in the life of Las Vegas consumers.

Every week, according to Nielsen, more adults tune-in to Las Vegas radio than watch TV or cable. Use social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Read newspapers. Or, stream music from Pandora or Spotify.

There are more than 1,400,000 car radios in the Las Vegas area. On April 4, though, many of these devices became quarantined along with their owners. That was the day when the Governor of Nevada shut down the state to slow the spread of COVID-19.

According to the Apple Mobility Index, the Governor's public-safety order caused traffic on Las Vegas roadways to plummet to 40% of pre-pandemic levels.

By the beginning of July, however,  the AMI indicates that traffic in Las Vegas began to exceed pre-Covid levels. The surge in mobility is due, in part, to work-from-home, furloughed, and laid-off employees returning to their workplaces.

According to Nielsen, during the week of April 30, only 39% of adults with jobs were working outside-the-home.  During the week of October 1, though, that number had expanded to 61%.