It reaches you when_the screen is off

01

When radio pays off

Radio fits when a campaign needs repetition, when the message can be told in sound, or when advertising has to be focused on the region where a store or branch is. Radio can build awareness, announce an offer or remind people of something topical. The job is chosen by the campaign's objective.

Radio's weight is decided in the media plan, once the media strategy has set the channels' jobs. At the same time we agree what radio is expected to do and how it will be assessed.

02

Who radio reaches, and when

Radio's reach varies less by age than TV's. 56 %* of 18 to 29-year-olds listen to commercial radio stations weekly, and 73 % of 45 to 59-year-olds.

The working day is radio's most common listening time: 48 %* say they typically listen on weekdays between 9 and 16, and 36 % in the morning between 6 and 9. The time windows differ in length, so the figures describe listening habits, not advertising effect per hour. Airtimes are chosen by the audience's day.

03

Stations, region and repetition

Stations are chosen by what the audience listens to. Listening by audience comes from NØRR3 Media Insights. A national campaign buys stations heard across the country, and a regional one limits visibility to stations heard in that region.

Repetition and the campaign period are sized to the objective. The number of spot versions depends on what the campaign has to say: one message can work with one spot, and regional offers need their own versions. On radio, memory comes from repetition. In our own campaigns, too many parallel spot versions have diluted it, so we keep the number of versions of the same message small and the repetition per spot high.** We negotiate the buy with the broadcasters.

04

Radio and digital audio

Digital audio means advertising in music streaming services, podcasts and radio stations' online listening. It is usually bought per listen, and targeting is based on what the service knows about the listener. Listeners on ad-free subscriptions do not hear ads, so digital audio reach is assessed separately.

Radio reaches widely with a single broadcast. Digital audio fits when the audience is narrow or when listens need to be tracked more closely. The two are often used together.

05

A message without pictures

The listener is busy with something else, so the brand name and the reason to act are said out loud and the point is made clearly. The campaign idea usually comes from the advertising agency, and we bring to the spot's planning when and where the audience listens.

When a spot needs versions for different regions or locations, the DCO & Templates app in NØRR3 Marketing Engine produces them from an approved template. The versions are checked before they go on air.

06

What we measure on radio

We agree before the campaign what radio is expected to do. Reach and frequency are assessed from the airtime bought. If the objective is recall or awareness, it is measured with a campaign study. If the objective is visits or enquiries, we track them during the campaign, but radio's share cannot be separated from them without a separate comparison.

* NØRR3 Media Insights, wave 9, Norstat panel, August 2026, n = 2 022, aged 18 to 74, margin of error ±2.1–2.2 percentage points. Age groups: 18 to 29-year-olds n = 400 (±4.9 percentage points), 45 to 59-year-olds n = 549 (±3.7 percentage points). Commercial radio stations = listening excluding Yle; number of people refers to those who listen at least weekly. Listening times = the respondent's own report of a typical weekday. ** NØRR3's own campaign bank, campaign reports 2024–2026: each lesson recurs in campaigns across at least two industries and two advertisers.