(CMR) Cayman Marl Road's The Cold Hard Truth (TCHT) has maintained the ranking of Cayman's preferred talk show, according to Tower Marketing's latest 2023 Consumer Survey Core Report. TCHT first captured the #1 slot the first year it appeared in the survey, but this year it experienced audience growth of almost double last year's figures.
TCHT grew from 32% of those surveyed in 2021 to a commanding 63% for 2022. Although the show was in the lead in previous years, the significant jump caused the report notes to state that Cayman Marl Road's talk show is “by far the most preferred talk show” in the Cayman Islands.
The next closest competitor was Radio Cayman's Talk Today, with 25% of those surveyed sharing that was their talk show preference. After Talk Today, the drop-off was significant, with For the Record coming in at 6%, followed by Compass Media's The Resh Hour at 3%.
“Cayman Marl Road is preferred by college/university graduates and those earning $3,001 – $6,000 monthly.”
2023 Tower Consumer Survey
The drop for For The Record, which is hosted by Orrett Connor and is a direct timeslot competitor (three days of the week) with TCHT, was significant. His listenership declined from the #2 spot to third place, but he lost significant traction with a 21% decrease in listeners preferring him.
The 2022 surveyed numbers for the same category were much tighter:
- CMR 32%
- For The Record 27%
- Talk Today 21%
However, this year's results show a significant gap between the top three competitors, with For The Record losing the most traction and falling sharply to third place.
“Cayman Marl Road has the highest proportion of listeners who are female college graduates and Caymanian.”
The talk show market has shrunk with the disappearance of Compass Media's CrossTalk and Straight Talk, which previously aired on Star 92.7FM.
For the category of awareness of local news organizations, Cayman Compass and Cayman Marl Road maintained the top two positions for the past two years, but Cayman News Service lost the third position to Loop Cayman by a slight 1% margin. The Cayman Islands Government news channel lost almost 50% recognition falling down to 6%.
The annual media consumption survey is in its 15th year and analyzes a number of habits and responses from a wide cross-section of random persons in the community from the previous year. The 2023 results were collected in 2022 and included 53% Caymanian participants, with 42% being registered voters. 36% of those surveyed were Jamaicans.
It then compiles the data based on income bracket, age, education, nationality, and monthly income levels and draws some insights from the dataset. It pulls data related to all media, including radio stations and print magazines, and provides some insights and implications. The report is used by organizations across the island to make decisions about marketing, audience reach, and consumer habits.
The report is available for purchase and anyone interested in finding out more about the consumer survey can contact Tower directly.
“Cayman Compass (68%) and Cayman Marl Road (49%) are the preferred local news sources.”
At times, trends appear to change from one survey cycle to the next. This year's results show that high school graduates “are more likely” to get their news from Cayman News Service. Ironically, a larger percentage of CMR's readers were college or university graduates. This was in contrast to the previous year's results.
Who is Tower Marketing?
Tower is a full-service marketing communications agency celebrating its 25th anniversary in the Cayman Islands.
Recognized with both international and local awards, Tower offers a full suite of services, including strategic brand development, creative advertising campaigns, PR management, digital marketing solutions, social media management, event planning, website design, and market research. With their expertise and dedication, Tower helps its clients effectively communicate their brand messages and achieve their marketing objectives.
What is TCHT?
The Cold Hard Truth debuted in 2019 as a bi-weekly evening talk show before transitioning to a daily morning show in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, it was only on social media platforms but quickly became Cayman's #1 talk show in that time slot. In March 2022, it launched with BOBO 89.1FM and continues to experience significant community growth.
Due to popular demand, the show expanded from two hours to three within months of its radio launch.
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