Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) has revealed its next roadmap in a move to deliver “frictionless access” to audio’s growing reach and effectiveness.
The CRA Audio ID roadmap, released yesterday at CRA’s showcase, HEARD 2026, in Sydney, boosts the power of audio to be a campaign catalyst for brand growth, and the industry’s mission to make it easier to buy. It follows the platform’s official launch in November last year.
The industry’s unified digital audio identifier CRA Audio ID delivers streamlined access to 14.7 million monthly listeners across all major member networks via Google’s Display & Video 360 in November and is now ready for clients to activate.
The next phases of the roadmap include:
- Demographic and location targeting powered by Australian-based consumer intelligence provider HYP, which is coming soon.
- High-value audience segments and interoperability are being explored, with plans to potentially launch in 2027.
- The long-term ambition is the development of a unified audio exchange – one place to access all CRA member commercial streaming and podcast inventory, with consistent products, measurement and real-time activation.
It comes as millions of Australians listen to commercial radio and podcasts weekly, creating a powerful opportunity for brands to connect. However, according to CRA, until now measuring reach, managing frequency and buying at scale across networks has not been easy.
“We are very pleased to have come together on the development of an industry wide map, a major strategic priority for us as we work towards making digital audio easier to buy across the entire local industry,” Oliver Newton, executive head, LiSTNR Commercial, SCA said during a panel.
“It’s clear from what we have heard today that audio delivers results. We see it in the data. We see it in the brand lift. We see its effectiveness and ROI studies, but ease and accessibility hasn’t always kept pace with other channels.”
He said the feedback coming from agencies “has been consistent”.
“You want access to audio’s reach and effectiveness without friction. You want targeting, you want measurement, importantly, you want scale and you want it to be easy, a single point of access to our total audience. Audio ID is a solution that enables you to access exactly that.”
Also on the panel, Jonathan Mandel, national director of digital audio sales at Nine, described the Audio ID as “the new frontier for programmatic audio.”
“It connects your campaigns across all of our combined premium, live and local content with the very best of on demand podcasts produced right here in Australia and around the globe.”
And for those wondering what it means for campaigns, Mandel said the Audio ID “gives you the confidence to minimise duplication, enabling you to optimise the budget for your target audience.
“So most importantly, it’ll just help you get better results for your campaigns.”
ARN’s chief digital & technology officer, Ben Campbell and NOVA Entertainment’s chief commercial officer, Nicole Bence, also added to the panel, discussing what’s next for the Audio ID.
“The Audio ID will soon be supercharged with demographic and location data for targeting by fusing our first-party advanced data set providing smarter ways for you to reach Australian listeners with precision consistency,” Campbell said.
“You’ll be able to manage region frequency seamlessly across all audio networks, all audio formats and all devices whilst activating your campaign.
“By enriching the Audio ID with standardised age, gender and demographic segments, we’re removing the complexity from audio programmatic buying. Targeting is intuitive, scalable and efficient.”
However, Bence told the audience “we know we haven’t solved everything yet”.
“Our ambition goes further. Our next horizon is a unified audio exchange, one access point, consistent products, measurement and real time activation, and we are in active development now, working towards bringing this to you next year.”
“It takes time,” she said. “But as an industry, we haven’t been loud enough about our ambition, and today is about signalling that we are serious and aligned on solving the things that matter most to you. So we’ve begun to reduce the friction by delivering consistent identity, segmentation and measurement.”
“We are building towards a future where audio is accessed as seamlessly as every other digital channel, not by asking you to change how you buy, but we’re adapting to meet your needs. This roadmap is grounded in collaboration, transparency and continuous improvement.”
CRA CEO Lizzie Young (pictured above) told a packed room of marketers, radio execs and media buyers the announcements “demonstrate the entire industry’s commitment to delivering best-in-class solutions for our customers”.
“We have been busy building a future focused on what our customers need, making it easier for brands to access the unique opportunity audio delivers,” she said.
“We outperform many other channels at every stage of the purchase funnel and on an ROI basis return two dollars for every one spent. Audio is an incredibly versatile channel that delivers scale, is multi-platform, integrated, efficient and effective – enabling brands to connect rationally with the head; emotionally with the heart; and drive action. It really is more powerful than you think.”
She described seeing “some of the greatest digital talent on stage talking about their desire to make the industry better for customers as “pretty amazing”.
“The sheer level of customer focus and technical expertise this has taken from all our members is incredible and the genuinely meaningful audience opportunity for brands is clear.”
