March 20, 2020 (White Plains, NY) – In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has significantly increased the number of COVID-19 radio PSA’s and ad revenue spend in major target markets. When comparing the date ranges of February 1st-29th to March 1st-18th, the following information was noted: Radio spot instances in Seattle, one of the first cities to be directly affected by the pandemic, rose by 15 times the amount.
New York City also experienced a 33% increase in CDC radio spots. Perhaps one of the most whopping jumps thus far has been in Los Angeles- with a spot increase of nearly 11 times. Cities additionally affected in the U.S. by the COVID-19 outbreak, such as Houston and San Francisco, experienced a huge spike in radio spots and ad revenue.
Public outreach through radio has been one of the main forms of media that the CDC has used in an effort to broadcast more information about the COVID-19 pandemic. As people across the nation remain in quarantine and non-essential businesses remain closed, it will be interesting to see how and where the CDC will choose to broadcast more information about the pandemic.