Jim headhshot

Jim Tarantine Promoted to Product Manager, TopLine at Futuri

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Cleveland, Ohio, June 8, 2020 – Longtime media executive Jim Tarantine has been promoted to Product Manager, TopLine at Futuri. Tarantine will help set the strategy and product roadmap for TopLine, Futuri’s AI-driven sales research and insights platform that helps shorten sales cycles and advance every stage of the sales process.

Prior to joining Futuri in 2018, Tarantine spent 12 years at Arbitron / Nielsen Audio, working with radio groups and stations across Sales, Programming, Digital, and Corporate teams to help meet and exceed revenue and ratings goals.

“Jim’s research and analytics background has been instrumental in Futuri delivering maximum ROI for our partners, so it’s natural for him to lead the team at TopLine, which helps broadcast sales teams grow their revenue share and increase developmental business,” said Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig. “TopLine helped deliver $125 million in revenue for our partners last year, and we’re eager to further grow that number with Jim at the helm.”

Person holding mobile phone

Futuri: Station Mobile App Usage Grows During COVID-19 Changes

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Consumer usage of station-specific mobile apps is on the rise since the onset of consumer behavior changes spurred by restrictions related to COVID-19. Futuri, a leading provider of mobile apps for broadcasters, has seen the following trends across Futuri’s station-specific mobile apps:

Average of +25% increase in sessions since the early April across a variety of market sizes and format types, with higher increases showing for brands who actively promote mobile on-air and on social.

The station’s stream is the top mobile app feature on all mobile apps, but non-stream features have seen consistent increases in usage. Top features that significantly contribute to increased engagement include:

Open Mic, which allows users to send audio messages from their phones directly to the studio.

Flash Contesting, which enables stations to run contesting through their mobile app instead of a traditional “Caller 9” execution. This also provides station data on listener engagement unavailable with call-in contests.

Breaking news (via mobile web integration), driven by push notifications

These increases come at a time when consumers have indicated an increased interest in their favorite station brands having their own mobile app In January’s Country Listeners National Survey Report 2020, a study conducted by Futuri Media and the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications which surveyed 1,400 people who identified country music as their favorite music format, 44% of AM/FM country radio listeners have their favorite stations’ app installed on their mobile device, a number that grows to 48% when looking at 18-34 AM/FM country listeners. While these stats are country format-specific, Futuri Mobile station app growth is consistent across a variety of formats.

“As consumer habits continue to change due to COVID-19 disruptions, audiences want new and different ways to engage with their favorite radio station brands,” said Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig. “Content-rich station mobile apps are a critical complement to aggregator presence, giving listeners ways to stay connected with their favorite brands, personalities, and features beyond just streams, websites, and socials, and sales teams new ways to generate digital revenue.”

For more information on Futuri Mobile and growth trends, visit futurimedia.com/mobileapps.

major research study at crs 2020

Futuri Media and the University of Florida Present Major Research Study at CRS 2020.

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The final day of CRS 2020 featured the presentation Defending Your Audience Share: Exclusive Research Findings, the results of a major study conducted by Futuri Media and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. 

The study was conducted in January 2020 and surveyed nearly 1,400 people who named country as their favorite music format out of a list of seven options. It also broke out those who listen to AM/FM country radio (both terrestrial and streaming), and those who listen to country music but not via AM/FM country radio. 

Presented by Daniel Anstandig, Futuri Media’s CEO, and Rob Harder, Director of Programming / Brand Manager for the University of Florida radio properties, the study aimed to answer three questions facing country radio today: 

  • How do we defend our country audience and revenue share? 
  • How should we extend our country content onto new platforms? 
  • How will we transcend our challenges as the country competition landscape changes?

Key findings from the study can be found at futurimedia.com/CRS2020. Among the findings: 

  • 76% of AM/FM country listeners would prefer more video content from their favorite country radio station. 
  • Country radio listeners are tuning in to nearly the same amount of AM/FM radio as in the past, but 23% plan to listen to more country radio streaming in the next three months.
  • Women 18-34 who listen to broadcast radio tend to be more active on social media than streaming listeners. Throughout the study, data shows that country stations should have a social strategy that targets country fans, especially younger females, with sticky and recyclable content. 
  • Country listeners who have listened to a podcast in the last month name music as their favorite podcast topic genre. This number is 30%; the next highest topic genre is news/politics at 11%. Country radio station are great at talking about music; this presents an excellent time-shifted and original podcast content opportunity. 
  • Quality station-specific mobile apps present a major engagement opportunity. Younger listeners are more likely to install them, and they’re an opportunity for more connected car listening. Of AM/FM country radio listener respondents, 44% have their favorite station’s mobile app installed on their mobile device, a number that jumps to 48% when looking at the 18-34 demo. And 26% of country fans listen to country music via a connected car platform and are highly likely to listen to country music connecting their mobile device to their vehicle.

For more key findings, including many related to driving revenue, visit futurimedia.com/CRS2020.

less than 3 minutes can kick off a successful 2020

How spending less than three minutes with TopLine today can kick off a successful 2020.

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Happy New Year! The thing about having an excellent bit of downtime over the holidays (and we hope you did!) is that it can be difficult to get back into gear after a break. 

Luckily, for sales professionals who have access to TopLine, it’s not so difficult. TopLine’s sales research and data visualization tools advance your sales process with the insights to tell a credible, data-driven story. TopLine’s suite of tools is there with you every step of the way, from helping secure the first appointment to delivering quick-turnaround, fully researched and designed client-specific presentations that make the best possible case for doing business with your brands.

For TopLine users, less than three minutes spent in the system can help sharpen their focus for 2020. Here’s how it works if you have TopLine: 

  • Review new Instant Positioning pieces: Spend 90 seconds checking out the list of all-new research pieces your TopLine team has created over the past few weeks (we’ve been busy!). From the pest control customer to the Tesla shopper, there are dozens of new pieces at your fingertips. 
  • Get insight into new prospects: Spend 30 seconds requesting Personality Prep and Digital Prep Reports for that big prospect you’re targeting for new business in 2020. Prep is power! 
  • Nurture those prospects from 2019: TopLine users can access all their research requests from a convenient dashboard. Spend one minute searching your dashboard for research requests from Q4 for business that may not have closed (yet!), and request any changes that will help you follow up on that business. 

Sound like something that would help advance your sales process, and make your life easier, too? We’d love to talk! Reach out to us today. 

⏳Three minutes is all it takes to kick off a successful 2020.

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Spend three minutes with TopLine today to kick off a successful 2020. Here’s how. 

Happy New Year! We hope you had a restful holiday break, and we’re excited to help you achieve your most successful year yet. 

It can be challenging to get back on track after a break, so we’ve laid out three things you can do in under three minutes today to help sharpen your focus for 2020.

  • Review new Instant Positioning pieces: Spend 90 seconds checking out the list of all-new research pieces your TopLine team has created over the past few weeks (we’ve been busy!). From the pest control customer to the Tesla shopper, there are dozens of new pieces at your fingertips. Find them in the Instant Positioning section.
  • Get insight into new prospects: Spend 30 seconds requesting Personality Prep and Digital Prep Reports for that big prospect you’re targeting for new business in 2020. Prep is power! Find them in the Appointment Prep Tools section.
  • Nurture those prospects from 2019: Spend one minute searching your dashboard for research requests from Q4 for business that may not have closed (yet!), and request any changes that will help you follow up on that business. Search your research library and request edits from your dashboard.

TopLine is here to help you advance every step of the sales process. Happy New Year!

topic pulse Nielsen

Nielsen Audio Study Confirms TopicPulse Has Measurable Results in Time Spent With Radio

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Nielsen Audio recently conducted a study that correlated ratings of TopicPulse users vs. average stations, and examined whether heavy users of TopicPulse correlated with even higher ratings. Key findings include:

  • Stations doing real-time show prep with TopicPulse have 2x higher cume and AQH share in both P18-49 and P25-54 demos compared to average PPM measured stations.
  • The more frequently TopicPulse stations use the system, the higher their average cume and AQH share. The ten heaviest users of TopicPulse, based on number of logins and minutes used, had +7.3% higher cume rating and +3% higher AQH share than average TopicPulse users.
  • Morning Drive users logged into TopicPulse during the show had 48% higher 6a-10a M-F AQH share than stations that only log in the night before.

The study also determined that morning shows using TopicPulse consistently performed better in AQH share compared to those not using TopicPulse, a finding that was consistent across multiple formats and demos.

Index of AQH Share on TopicPulse client stations vs. average non-TopicPulse client stations during Morning Drive

  • Rock / Classic Rock: 131% P18-49, 116% A25-54
  • Top 40 / AC: 115% P18-49, 100% A25-54
  • Country: 98% P18-49, 85% A25-54
  • Urban: 37% P18-49, 22% A25-54
  • N/T/S: 12% P18-49, 35% A25-54
The Profound need for time-shifted audio for the radio business

The Profound Need for Time-Shifted Audio for the Radio Business

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Time-shifting revolutionized the TV industry. Now, the time is here for the radio industry.

Futuri Media has partnered with Nielsen to study the perceptions and attitudes of a variety of audiences on time-shifted audio. The study concluded that there is a profound appetite for time-shifted radio content among radio listeners – notably, highly monetizable and younger audiences – and that opportunities are currently untapped as awareness of the availability of time-shifted radio content among listeners remains low.

Download the free white paper now to learn how to develop a strong time-shifting strategy and untap the potential to grow your station’s audience and revenue today.

Topic Pulse

Futuri Media’s Real-Time Story Discovery System TopicPulse Hits Record-High Subscriber Base

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The social media monitoring system that’s changing the face of show prep adds 100+ new station partners, including several major markets, in Q1 2018.

Cleveland, Ohio, March 28, 2018 – Futuri Media, a global leader in SaaS technology designed to drive audience and revenue growth for broadcasters, today announced that its revolutionary real-time story discovery and show prep tool, TopicPulse, has hit a record-high subscriber base, adding more than 100 new station partners in the first three months of 2018 alone. Those new partners include stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and several other markets.

TopicPulse, which is changing the face of show prep, uses patent-pending technology to scan social media and 100k+ sources of verified news and information every second; it then shows real-time insights into which stories will resonate with specific audiences to help drive on-air, social, and website content decisions. With its ability to deliver target audience-specific insights on which stories will resonate, which are about to go viral, and which are on the downswing, TopicPulse provides assurance that all talk breaks, either live or voicetracked, are as timely and compelling as possible.

TopicPulse’s subscriber base has grown rapidly since adding IdeaStartersTM, copy that’s based on TopicPulse insights and can be used as-is on broadcasts and social and digital channels, in mid-2017. Created by a team of writers with background in multiple radio formats, format-specific IdeaStartersTM content is updated throughout the day in the TopicPulse app and sent to subscribers via email twice-daily for AM and PM drive prep.

“Futuri Media created TopicPulse to help broadcasters and publishers focus on the right content at the right time, using real-time social data to predict what is about to go viral and which stories are most likely to resonate with broadcast, social, and digital audiences.” said Futuri Media CEO Daniel Anstandig.

As TopicPulse grows, Jasmine Rivers has been promoted to TopicPulse Operations Manager, a role in which she oversees product initiatives and the IdeaStartersTM team. That team recently added Joe Cristiano , former longtime producer of Q104.3’s The Jim Kerr Rock ‘n Roll Morning Show, to its roster of writers.

ABOUT FUTURI MEDIA

Futuri Media is a global leader in SaaS technology designed to drive audience and revenue growth by deepening consumers’ trust in, affinity for, and loyalty to brands and the teams who

represent them. Futuri Media’s audience engagement and sales technology, for which it holds 11 published or pending patents in 151 countries, is used by thousands of broadcasters and publishers worldwide. Named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s fastest-growing private companies for four consecutive years, Futuri Media’s best-in-class customer support is a key driver of its growth. Founded by CEO Daniel Anstandig in 2009, Futuri Media is dedicated to driving measurable success for its partners through innovative SaaS technology, proactivity, speed, and trust in all of its relationships. http://www.futurimedia.com

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© 2020 Futuri Media

Futuri is the leading provider of cloud-based audience engagement software for the enterprise. Brands rely on Futuri to make their content more relevant, accessible, engaging, and results-driven. Founded in 2009, Futuri holds 11 published or pending patents in 151 countries. Named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies for six consecutive years, Futuri is the only audience engagement platform that includes solutions for sales, marketing, and content teams.