Streaming Level Data Powers a New Era of In-Car Radio Insights

Radio data of a different kind

Every business has a story to tell and knowing if you’re telling the right story at the right time to the right audience is essential to keep a business thriving. The right metrics can do just that. However, digital technology is increasingly changing the way audiences interact with media and is doing so at a speed traditional radio just can’t keep up with. This has left today’s broadcasters without the visibility into audiences that streaming platforms have long enjoyed. 

Radio broadcasters should not have to settle for less. Especially when their audiences are listening inside connected vehicles with dashboards that give broadcasters the exact information they need: the how, when and where listeners are tuning in.

This is where the latest version of the DTS AutoStage™ Broadcaster Portal comes in. Built on the DTS AutoStage™ platform, the portal logs critical listener behavior and turns it into meaningful intelligence to drive smarter programming, stronger audience connections and new opportunities for monetization. It does so with a focus on something that makes radio unique — localization — and gives broadcasters a clearer, more dynamic view of behavior by providing access to listening analytics across 9 million vehicles across 250 U.S. markets in the U.S. alone. 

More revelations from more revealing data

The numbers the portal provides tell an in-depth story about listener behavior, a story that reflects their markets in ways not previously measured. For example, local sports and community events often amplify evening radio listening in smaller towns. Radio listening in resort and coastal regions sees surges during peak travel weekends. And in metro areas, those first back-to-school mornings create measurable shifts in drive-time habits almost overnight.

Important patterns like these are often missed by metrics that do not log in-vehicle listening.

The portal’s benefits are real and already making a difference. Reporting from the most recent CES, Radio World writer John Garziglia spoke to Lee Perryman, owner of Sylacauga’s Radio Alabama, who said the broadcaster platform “has changed my life, because I’m able to show prospective advertisers where and when people are listening, which I can’t do otherwise.” 

Garziglia noted there are no metrics in Perryman’s unrated market. “I can’t prove anything,” continued Perryman, “so we produce coverage maps that show our proposed coverage areas which we layer into DTS AutoStage maps showing where people are listening, and pair that with data from our streaming services to show the demographics of those people as representative samples.”

Beyond the local level, the DTS AutoStage portal also enables broadcasters to see audience movements at regional levels. So now a New York station can quantify listening across New Jersey and Connecticut, while a Syracuse station can identify engagement from nearby Utica and Rome. The portal finally allows stations to identify and monetize the “spillover” audiences that have always been there.

With a single standardized approach across all markets — from Los Angeles, where information comes from over 240,000 vehicles, to Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA, with just over 11,000 vehicles — broadcasters have a consistent and unified framework for comparing trends and making informed decisions across markets for the first time. 

From faster feedback to data driven decisions

The value of the analytics the portal delivers lies not just in what they measure, but in how quickly broadcasters may act on them. Stations can see audience shifts within 24 hours and respond almost immediately. So, when those local and regional listening patterns come to life — weekend spikes, commuter shifts, unexpected cross-market reach — broadcasters can use them to shape everything from programming to promotions.

This kind of immediacy changes the conversation. Instead of debating estimates or waiting for reports, broadcasters are now able to point to real audience movement to be proactive with programming and implement strategies based on near-time data. That means morning shows can test new segments and see the impact the next day. Sales teams can demonstrate advertiser reach with location-based listening trends. And programmers can track seasonal spikes tied to weather, events or travel patterns — insights that once took months to surface. 

As Mike Hulvey, president and CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau, explained to John Garziglia at CES, “By establishing a communications link with the automobile dashboards in your market, you’re able to access near real-time consumption data, regardless of where you’re at.”

Radio’s data renaissance

Radio’s greatest strength has been its connection to the community, those familiar voices, local news and shared moments that make the listening experience personal. Digitization has attacked that foundation by scattering attention across countless platforms. But that same digitization, through the DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal, can give radio the tools to compete analytically and expand visibility. Stations of all sizes, including some in locations never before measured, now have ways to understand and strengthen what radio does best. 

The industry is taking note. Mike McVay of McVay Media recently wrote in Radio Ink, “Expect to see Xperi DTS AutoStage explode as a research tool used for audience measurement and content research, streaming metrics from listening online or on apps, and the collection of first-party data coming together as part of sales.”

Radio has always been resilient. Now, radio is becoming data-driven, too. The DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal is turning what were once data deserts into lush landscapes rich with insight that will fuel radio’s story for decades to come. Perhaps the best part is that’s happening where radio has always mattered most: in the car.