Tampa Bay radio reaches more local consumers each week than any other advertising medium.

According to Nielsen, 2,226,951 adults tune in to their favorite AM/FM stations every week.  This is significantly more consumers than are reached by Tampa Bay 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 2.5 million Tampa Bay area adults who take to the road in their car or truck every week, according to Neilsen.

There are about 2,000,000 registered passenger vehicles in the Tampa Bay 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 Tampa 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 Tampa 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 Tampa 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 168,983 new cars and trucks registered in the Tampa Bay 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 878 new-car dealerships in Florida. Despite the pandemic, these dealers, including those in the Tampa Bay area, sold $83 billion worth of new vehicles.

Through June of this year, these same dealers have already rung up $51.8 billion in new car sales.

When it comes to buying new vehicles, Tampa Bay 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 Tampa Bay car buyers can agree on. They want an AM/FM radio smack-dab, in the middle of their dash.

At the dawn of 2020, Tampa Bay small business owners were expecting the area's retail economy to expand by 4.1%. This optimism was stoked by the National Retail Federation's chief economist who said, "Consumers remain upbeat and have the confidence to spend, and the steady wage growth that has come with the strong job market is fueling their spending. The state of the consumer is very healthy."

By February, however, the country entered into a COVID-19 induced recession. Then, to slow the spread of the pandemic, on April 3, the Governor of Florida locked the state down. This brought the Tampa area's $54.1 billion retail economy to a standstill.

As stores, restaurants, and offices in Tampa Bay begin to re-open, consumers' appetite for spending is returning. According to Nielsen, loyal radio listeners are very likely to be first in line at the cash registers.