Local businesses have been marketing their goods and services on Tampa Bay radio since May 31, 1922. That's when WDAE signed-on as Western Florida's first station.

WDAE was owned by three-time mayor and publisher of the Tampa Daily Times newspaper, D.B. McKay.

The station broadcast from the sixth floor of the Citrus Exchange Building at the corner of Zack and Tampa Street. The building would later become the downtown location of the Maas Brothers department store.

Who could have guessed that 101 years later, advertising on Tampa Bay radio would still be the best advertising option for all types of retailers and business owners.

Every week, according to Nielsen, Tampa Bay radio reaches 2,226,951 adult consumers. This reach is significantly higher than all other advertising options including local TV, cable, social media, streaming video, online audio, and newspapers.

Reach, according to Nielsen, is the audience metric most responsible for driving the success of an advertising campaign. Only the message itself carries more sway.

West-central Florida business owners have depended on Tampa radio to market their goods and services since WDAE, the city's first radio station, went on air in 1922. Despite the advent of new media and technologies since then, advertising on local radio stations is still the best way for the area's 123,853 small business owners to create and maintain customers.

Here are five facts every business owner should know about advertising on Tampa radio in 2022.

Despite an abundance of media options, Tampa Bay radio reaches the most consumers every week. 

According to Nielsen, every week 2.3 million adults tune in to their favorite Tampa Bay stations. This is more than watch local TV stations, cable, or streaming video. It is more than browse social media. It is more than listen to streaming audio services or podcasts. It is more than read local newspapers.

Not all listening to Tampa Bay radio happens on car radios, table-top radios, or boom boxes. Instead, local consumers also use their smartphones, computers, and tablets as a way to connect to their favorite local stations.

Neilsen finds that 29.2% of all consumers who listen to a Tampa Bay radio station over the air will, at some point during the month, also connect to a local station via the internet. As a matter of fact, during a typical hour, Nielsen data suggests that 10.9% of a station's total audience is listening on a device other than a traditional receiver.