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Tag Archive for: Alexa

Person driving car

As In-Car Entertainment Options Grow, Radio Keeps Pace

September 20, 2018/in Industry News/by Zena

With robust digital offerings, radio can maintain its place as the no. 1 in-car media

Radio enjoys the enviable position as the most popular in-car media, but the car is quickly emerging as the new battleground for audio. As more vehicles with advanced entertainment systems and WiFi connectivity hit the road, drivers can tune into online radio or apps for their audio, and that’s giving radio new competition.  

According to Edison Research’s latest Infinite Dial report, 56% of drivers named AM/FM radio as their top in-vehicle entertainment choice, but that slipped from 63% just two years ago. At the same time, digital audio increased its share from 8% in 2016 to 12% in 2018 and podcasts inched up from just 1% to 3%.  

At the upcoming 2018 Radio Show in Orlando, Edison Research will share new data on in-car listening, which is sure to garner plenty of attention. Radio currently enjoys a strong position and is often the only time many consumers are using the radio. Among overall respondents, 54% say they only listen to AM/FM radio in the car and 62% of 13 to 34 years old say the car is the only place they tune in to radio.

As more cars feature advanced and integrated technology, broadcasters need to be ready with their digital products. Streaming audio services, including Pandora, iHeart Radio and Spotify, are pre-loaded in some car systems, and a growing number of new vehicles also feature Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which allow in-dash screens to mimics a smartphone screen so drivers can easily access any apps, including audio apps. By 2025, the Radio Advertising Bureau predicts all new cars rolling off production lines will be connected to the Internet, giving drivers access to an unprecedented number of entertainment options.  

But, here’s the good news for radio: Local broadcasters are well-positioned to embrace new in-car technology and, potentially, to grow their in-car audience. Along with traditional AM/FM listening, radio stations can offer drivers high-quality live streaming audio and on-demand content, including podcasts, and deliver it all through the latest in-dash systems. If a driver has a radio app on their phone, it appears on CarPlay or Android Auto. Drivers with cars that feature Alexa voice-technology can even use that to access their favorite radio station skills.

To stay ahead, radio stations need to make sure their digital products are cutting-edge, including high-quality live streams that offer a seamless listening experience, intuitive apps, a strong lineup of podcasts, and easy-to-use Alexa skills. After all, these are the key ingredients to any positive digital audio experience and the car is no exception.

At Futuri Media, a global leader in SaaS technology for broadcasters and media companies, our solutions make it simple to create, distribute and share content across digital platforms — including the car — and to produce and integrate ads for digitals channels. Our audience engagement suite features:

Futuri Streaming offering the finest-quality streaming audio to your mobile app and web player through our reliable technology solution with 24/7, VIP support.

Futuri Mobile: an interactive audience experience featuring more than 50 customizable features, including contests, push notifications, audio and video streaming, podcasts and more.

Our custom-built Alexa skills can deliver your content, promotions, and sponsor messaging to Alexa-powered smart speakers.

The upcoming 2018 Radio Show, will feature more insights about this latest Edison research study on in-car audio data.  Join broadcasters on Sept. 25-28 at the Hilton Bonnet Creek and the Waldorf-Astoria in Orlando, FL, and hear Edison’s Larry Rosin share the latest findings on in-car audio data from Share of Ear, Infinite Dial, and NPR.

Futuri Media is a proud sponsor and contributor of the 2018 Radio Show. To schedule time at the show and learn more about our audience engagement technologies and how it can help brace your brand for the future, contact Futuri Media here.

 

https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/car-radio-blog.png 461 841 Zena https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png Zena2018-09-20 09:48:022020-05-24 13:26:52As In-Car Entertainment Options Grow, Radio Keeps Pace
Podcast Reach Blog

How Podcasting Can Reach an Audience of 100 million

September 10, 2018/in Industry News/by Zena

To boost engagement, broadcasters and digital publishers need to educate consumers

The biggest hurdle to growing podcasting may be helping consumers understand exactly what a podcast is and how to find it.

New data from Edison Research notes that 64% of Americans, of 180 million people, say they’ve heard of podcasts, up from just 22% in 2006, but only 17%, or 48 million, have ever listened. That leaves a lot of room for improvement.

“The number of people who actually listened to a podcast in the last week is significantly smaller than those who are familiar with the term,” Edison said. “The key…is understanding why those people familiar with the term ‘podcasting’ have never listened.”

With producers and podcasters’ help, Edison estimates that podcasting can attract 100-million listeners, a critical threshold to be considered mainstream media.

What are the biggest obstacles to growth? The answer is surprisingly simple: Many Americans don’t understand how to find and stream podcasts, while others have misconceptions, like thinking podcasting will eat up a user’s data plan.  Among those who don’t listen to podcasts, 37% said they don’t really understand what podcasting is, while 48% said they weren’t sure how to listen; while 65% say there are so many podcasts, they don’t even know where to begin.

With high-quality and engaging shows for every niche and interest imaginable, the podcast industry is booming. More advertisers are signing on to the medium and local broadcasters are upping their podcast game, launching new shows and adapting on-air content for podcasting.

To grow the audience, local broadcasters can spread the word, offering tips on where to find podcasts and how to stream, and regularly promoting their podcasts. Use on-air promo time to discuss podcasts and post regularly on popular social media channels. On-air talent can promote their podcasts or talk about their own favorites, then remind listeners how to find their own unique content. Providing the early podcast education is critically important and here’s why: in the recent Edison study, most Americans don’t know that 80% of smartphones are preloaded with a podcast listening app such as Apple Podcast.

At Futuri Media, a global provider of SaaS technology for broadcasters and digital publishers,  our platforms make it quick and easy to create on-demand content for podcasting, and to share that content across all media channels.

Our POST system makes it virtually effortless to produce podcasts for both Android and iOS devices.

“POST is extremely flexible for editing and including OTA or original content,” said Sophie Fry, Futuri’s SVP, Sales. “With POST, we can help broadcasters create, edit, craft, and distribute whatever programming content and advertiser sponsorship platforms the station desires.”

POST provides:

  • In-studio, touch-screen system so hosts and producers to quickly and easily capture audio and convert it into podcasts.
  • Ad-insertion, allowing stations to deliver custom messaging inside podcasts.
  • Easy distribution to multiple digital channels, including Facebook, Instagram, station websites, and more – with fully licensed images available to attach to podcast content to make it even more discoverable.

For high-quality streaming, Futuri Streaming, provides the best-in-class streaming experience available on the market today. And, with our custom-built Alexa skills, we can incorporate your podcasts for playback on any Alexa-enabled device.

Want to learn more about how we can help grow your podcast production and sales? Contact your Futuri Media partner or reach us here.

https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Podcasting-Reach-Blog.jpg 461 841 Zena https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png Zena2018-09-10 06:00:282020-05-24 13:24:22How Podcasting Can Reach an Audience of 100 million
People holdings up chat signs

Time to Turn Up the Volume on Smart Speakers

August 7, 2018/in Tech Trends/by Zena

As more consumers buy in, voice-activated speakers reach 18% of US homes

Smart speakers are going mainstream. About 43 million Americans are now speaking commands to Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices on their kitchen counters and nightstands. Voice-activated speakers are being consumed by 18% of U.S. homes, up from 7% a year ago, according to a new report from Edison Research and NPR.

The uptick comes as smart speakers expand from tech-savvy “first adopters”, who have owned devices for more than a year, to a larger group of “early mainstream” consumer adoption which is creating a boon for audio content providers.

“Those homeowners who have had smart speakers for at least a year are now the number one device for consuming audio,” noted Tom Webster, Senior VP of Edison Research. “This has profound ramifications for anyone in media and advertising. For millions of Americans, smart speakers are truly the new radio.”

Edison reports that smart speaker owners use their device to listen to audio more than on any other device, including AM/FM radios, computers, and speakers connected to smartphones. Among all smart speaker owners, playing music was the most popular request, while, among all audio formats, news and current affairs were the most popular content with smart speaker owners.

From live streaming to podcasting, broadcasters can benefit from the smart speaker revolution.  Consider these new findings:

  • 72% of early mainstreamers and 69% of early adopters listen to news and current events via smart speakers
  • 37% of owners are listening to 2+ hours of news per week on smart speakers
  • 39% of early mainstreamers listen to at least one podcast per week on smart speakers, as do 32% of first adopters
  • 29% of early mainstream owners say their smart speaker is replacing time spent with TV
  • 38% of early mainstreamers say they purchased the device in hopes of reducing screen time, as did 20% of early adopters.

As the user base grows, early mainstream owners are using smart speakers for more commerce and everyday tasks, including ordering food, making calls, getting traffic reports, researching products, and shopping. From early adopters to early mainstream owners, all are consistent in their desire to add more speakers to their homes. Among mainstream consumers, 58% want additional devices, while 44% of first adopters planning to buy additional smart speakers

For media companies, this data reaffirms early actions to the smart speaker space is critical and education about available skills to the consumer marketplace must start now. At Futuri Media, a global leader in SaaS technology for broadcast and digital publication, we believe voice-activated technology offers more than just significant upside. By creating custom skills, media companies can expand their audience, increase engagement, provide new distribution for content, and deliver a fresh advertising channel for clients.

With our custom-built Alexa skills, our clients can deliver high-quality streaming audio and on-demand content across Amazon’s speakers, which include the Echo, Dot, Show and Tap. That includes your podcasts, live audio and even exclusive content for smart speakers.

For more information on our Alexa Skills and smart speaker strategy, reach out to your Futuri Media partner rep or partner@futurimedia.com.

https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Speaking-To-Smart-Speakers.jpg 461 841 Zena https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png Zena2018-08-07 13:25:032020-05-24 13:22:59Time to Turn Up the Volume on Smart Speakers
People at the beach jumping for joy

Summer is the Time to Drive Digital Engagement

July 13, 2018/in Tech Trends/by Zena

Consumers turn to digital in the summer more than any other time of year. Engage your audience across all digital platforms using technologies proven to boost both audience engagement and revenue.

This summer, as more Americans stream audio in cars, on smart speakers, Bluetooth devices, and smartphones, online audio is primed to be more popular than ever. For radio broadcasters, this equals new opportunities to engage with audiences and attract advertisers.

In recent years, online listening for both radio broadcasters and pure play services has been booming. About 57% of Americans, or 160-million users, are streaming digital audio weekly, up from 53% last year and just 17% in 2010, according to the latest “Infinite Dial” report created by Edison Research. The average listener consumes more than 13.5 hours of digital audio per week, including music, spoken word formats, and podcasts.

In-car digital audio is also rising in popularity, 44% of consumers listening in-car, up from 40% in 2017 and 21% in 2013, Edison reported.

Meantime, radio stations are working to maximize new revenue streams from digital platforms. Last year, radio digital ad revenue jumped 13.4% to $700-million and is expected to reach nearly $800 million this year, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau and Borrell Associates. On a per station level, digital accounts for 7.5% of the average station’s ad revenues, up from 6.3% last year.

At Futuri Media, a global leader in SaaS software for broadcasters, our solutions make it simple to create, distribute and share content across digital platforms, and to produce and integrate ads for digitals channels.

Futuri Streaming delivers the finest-quality streaming audio to your mobile app and web player through our reliable system and comes with 24/7, VIP support.

Our team can create a custom mobile app just for your station. Optimize mobile with Futuri Mobile, our app platform that boasts more than 50 customizable features, including contests, push notifications, audio and video streaming, and more.  

POST, our exclusive content delivery and management system, enables on-air talent and producers to easily create digital content, including podcasts. The in-studio, touch-screen system makes it simple to grab and upload content for digital and on-demand listening, and to create exclusive digital audio.  

To help monetize digital, POST’s audio is PPM encoded, which enables broadcasters to measure their digital listening in the same ratings system as on-air audiences. POST also offers ad-insertion to create custom messages for podcasts and digital audio.

With #engage, our interactive programming tools, stations can keep up with trending topics. Our customized actions, including song alerts, text and email notifications, push alerts, and song voting, boost mobile and social engagement. Stations can sync social posts to song lists.  

Our custom-built Alexa skills can deliver your content, promotions and ads to Alexa-powered smart speakers.

Keep up with your audience’s trending chatter with TopicPulse, a real-time monitoring system that tracks the stories of interest to your listeners and provides fodder for on-air, online and social posts.

Let us help you be the soundtrack for the summer. Contact your Futuri Media partner rep or contact us here.

https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Summer-listening-blog.jpg 461 841 Zena https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png Zena2018-07-13 16:14:032020-05-24 13:22:13Summer is the Time to Drive Digital Engagement
People speaking at the WWRS Panel

WWRS 2018: Gen Zers, Millennials Use Radio On Their Terms

May 7, 2018/in Uncategorized/by Zena

To cultivate young audiences, radio needs to advance new devices, cars and data

Want to reach Generation Z and Millennials? Be authentic, explore new technologies, and use as many platforms as possible. Seeking a better understanding of Gen Zers,at the Worldwide Radio Summit 2018 opening panel, Futuri Media CEO Daniel Anstandig surveyed top audio and technology industry executives. The top finding: To reach these influential consumers (Gen Zers are ages 6 to 23 years old and Millennials are 24 to 38 year olds), radio broadcasters need to adapt — and fast.

“We need to stop just thinking radio. At iHeart, we develop for everything so we are always where the consumer is,” said iHeartRadio President Darren Davis, per Twitter, where the #WWRS2018 hashtag helped spread some of the panel’s best insights.

“Don’t be afraid of Gen Z – they may not be consuming radio in a traditional way… But if you have great content, they’ll find it,” said Elevate Research Founder Nicole Bergen. “They consume content everywhere.”

In a joint study by the R&D lab they developed together, Futuri Media and the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications have learned Gen Zers use media in 8-second bites and juggle five screens at once! They get information from peers and Google, are tech-savvy, and heavy social media users. They start each day with mobile, and use radio to discover new music, connect with favorite DJs, and stay up on local news and events.

On podcasting, Alexa and streaming 

Gen Zers don’t tune in on a broadcast schedule, but stream audio and podcasts on their time. To reach them, iHeartMedia stations offer both bite-sized, on-demand audio and full-length podcasts. It’s one way Davis said radio broadcasters can rethink distribution. “To them, radio is like an appliance, like a toaster,” Davis said. “We all need to stop thinking of ourselves as radio people. Our content goes so many more places than out of that one appliance.”

Think of next-gen tech as potential, not potholes. “Streaming is additive to radio. Alexa has brought radio back to the home,” noted Tim Clarke, Cox Media Group’s VP of Audience and Content for Radio.  And while Nielsen ratings might stay flat, Clarke says streaming audiences were growing.

To serve up more on-demand content, Ben Cooper, Controller for BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio1Xtra, and BBC Asian Network, has said he wants to create a Netflix for radio.  That way, Gen Zers stay connected, but on their terms. “For the radio industry, we have to make sure there are things they’re going to miss out on if they don’t listen,” Cooper said.

At the wheel

With Gen Zers relying on smartphones to access entertainment, in-car connectivity is critical. In fact, these young adults say they care more about their vehicle’s connectivity than make and model.

As carmakers innovate, if radio wants to maintain its position as the no. 1 in-car media, they need to pump out premium programming, says Scott Burnell, Ford’s Global Lead, Business Development & Partner Management. “When the vehicle becomes the ‘living room,’ autonomous cars, radio – more than ever – needs to create content people would consume while the auto is driving itself,” he said.  

Stay social

Along with heavy amounts of social media like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram, Gen Zers are glued to YouTube for music, entertainment and even podcasts. Radio stations and talent should engage young adults on social channels, and do it with authenticity, another Gen Z priority. “What radio does brilliantly is connect people to a sense of community,” Cooper said. “If we can make content that makes you feel a part of a community, we will still be relevant in Gen Z’s life.”

Data, data, and more data

With podcast advertising expected to hit $500 million by 2020, per Bridge Ratings, brands are watching closely to see how Gen Zers embrace and use podcasts. That will likely bring new opportunities to radio stations too.

“There are more sophisticated ways to prove the value of radio now. [We can] show a buyer more sophisticated info than we’ve ever been able to, fueled by big data, to continue to prove radio plays an important role in their media mix,” Clarke said.

To help its clients meet Gen Z and Millennials’ demands and more, Futuri Media, a global leader in SaaS technology for broadcasters, offers multiple solutions:

– TopicPulse powers your broadcast with real-time insights into the stories your specific target audience is responding to now so you can talk about it on the air, on a blog and on social.

– Futuri’s POST system makes it simple for radio broadcasters to create and publish podcasts.

– The Futuri Ad Network offers flexible, turnkey options for broadcasters to monetize their digital content in streaming and podcasts.

– #engage boosts mobile and social activity with customized actions on mobile apps and social, including song alerts, and text, email and push notifications. Sync social posts with your playlists, and allow users to build playlists.

– Futuri Mobile creates custom apps with more than 50 features, including audio and video streaming, playlists, weather, push notifications and contesting.

–  With custom-built Alexa skills, stations stations to deliver streaming and on-demand content to Alexa-enabled smart speakers.

– Futuri Streaming offers high-quality streaming with 24/7 VIP support.

 

Want to learn more? Contact your Futuri Media partner or contact us here.

 

https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/WWRS-Panel.jpg 461 841 Zena https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png Zena2018-05-07 10:08:482020-08-17 10:38:37WWRS 2018: Gen Zers, Millennials Use Radio On Their Terms
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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 12 published or pending patents in 151 countries. Named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies for seven consecutive years, Futuri is the only audience engagement platform that includes solutions for sales, marketing, and content teams.

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