Nova Entertainment secures almost 50% increase in audience growth

NOVA Entertainment secured a 49% increase in digital audience streaming, as well as a 69% increase for the Nova Network and 36% growth for smoothfm Network, from May 2019 to May 2020+. In addition, NOVA Entertainment recorded over six million Total Listening Hours across 14 stations, its highest ever result.

NOVA Entertainment had already seen strong year on year (YOY) increases pre-COVID, with further growth highlighting the continued attraction of streaming as a device option for audiences. The Nova Network experienced strong streaming growth across all day parts, with a 48%+ increase in workdays and triple figure YOY gains on weekends (113%)+. The smooth Network also experienced strong YOY growth with 34% increase in workdays and 82%+ on weekends.

Paul Jackson, NOVA Entertainment’s Chief Programming & Marketing Officer said, “Since lockdown in March, it’s become the new normal for our listeners to listen live to Nova or smooth across various devices especially across the workday and weekends. This is a reflection of the broad appeal of both network’s music offering and of our audience’s enduring love for our brands through events like the Nova and smoothfm Thank You concert.”

The COVID-19 crisis and ensuring social distancing restrictions have had a significant impact on streaming behavior, accelerating consumer adoption, with a 49% increase in cume to 1.29 million Streaming Listeners, 5.05 million Active Sessions (24% increase YOY) and 6.25 million Total Listening Hours (14% YOY increase)+. Smart Speaker Listening now accounts for 21.5% of Total Streaming Hours at 1.3 million hours in May*.

Fayad Tohme, NOVA Entertainment’s Chief Digital Officer said, “While May was another breaking record month, I expect the growth to continue. More listeners are adopting emerging technology and shifting to new channels. It is exciting to see that our most engaged listeners are now those streaming via smart speakers with an average time spent listening of two and a half hours.”

* Source: Web Metrics Triton Digital NOVA Entertainment May 2020, 6.257 million Total Listening Hours – 14 stations (Nova 96.9, Nova 100, Nova 919, Nova 106.9 & Nova 93.7, smoothfm 91.5 & smoothfm 95.3, smooth Adelaide, smooth Brisbane, smooth Perth, smooth Relax, smooth Chill, FIVEaa, Star 104.5)

+ Source: Web Metrics Triton Digital NOVA Entertainment May 2019 compared to May 2020