90% Of Marketers And Agencies Are Geotargeting; There Is Strong Interest In ZoneCasting

A New Technology That Allows AM/FM Radio To Run Different Over-The-Air Ads In Different Geographies

There is growing advertiser interest in geotargeting ads and innovative new technology that permit AM/FM radio to target over-the-air ads by geography.

Key findings:

  • A recent Advertiser Perceptions study of national advertisers and media agencies reports 90% are using geotargeting to guide their advertising, up from 70% in 2020 and an all-time high

  • Advertiser awareness and interest in ZoneCasting is growing

  • 44% of advertisers and agencies say they are “very interested” in the ability of AM/FM radio to deliver geotargeted ads over the air through ZoneCasting

  • 35% of advertisers say ZoneCasting will cause them to spend more on AM/FM radio or begin using AM/FM radio advertising

A recent Advertiser Perceptions study of national advertisers and media agencies reports 90% are using geotargeting to guide their advertising, up from 70% in 2020 and an all-time high

 
 

ZoneCasting allows different ads to be broadcast over-the-air to different geographies  

In January 2025, the FCC issued new rules for FM broadcasters, permitting full geotargeted content to be broadcast. For three minutes an hour, stations can have different over-the-air ads and programming in different geographies.

Advertiser awareness and interest in ZoneCasting is growing

Over the last six years, Advertiser Perceptions has surveyed 300 media agencies and marketers each year on the geotargeting AM/FM radio broadcast service called ZoneCasting. Since 2020, Advertiser Perceptions reports marketer and media agency awareness of ZoneCasting has increased 2.3X from 28% to 65%.

 
Advertiser/familiarity with ZoneCasting graph
 

44% of advertisers and agencies say they are “very interested” in the ability of AM/FM radio to deliver geotargeted ads over the air through ZoneCasting

Advertiser interest has more than doubled since 2020. The proportion who say they are “very interested” has increased from 20% in 2020 to 44% in 2024.

 
Advertiser interest in ZoneCasting graphs
 

35% of advertisers say ZoneCasting will cause them to spend more on AM/FM radio or begin using AM/FM radio advertising

Over the last five years, Advertiser Perceptions reports the proportion of marketers and media agencies who indicate ZoneCasting is “very likely” to cause them to use AM/FM radio or spend more has surged by 3X, from 13% in 2020 to 35% in 2025.

 
Marketers say they'll invest in ZoneCasting
 

Key findings:

  • A recent Advertiser Perceptions study of national advertisers and media agencies reports 90% are using geotargeting to guide their advertising, up from 70% in 2020 and an all-time high

  • Advertiser awareness and interest in ZoneCasting is growing

  • 44% of advertisers and agencies say they are “very interested” in the ability of AM/FM radio to deliver geotargeted ads over the air through ZoneCasting

  • 35% of advertisers say ZoneCasting will cause them to spend more on AM/FM radio or begin using AM/FM radio advertising

Shelby HammondComment