Younger Listeners Tune Out Regular Radio, Opt for Internet Radio Instead.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 11:47AM
Hey, radio people! Are you listening/watching to what's happening to our industry? If you are, then this piece is from the Dept. of Duh. If you're not, you're probably working in that department. From Mashable:
A recent study has found that Internet radio listenership is on the rise — and while digital device usage may have something to do with this increase, it’s harder to pinpoint social media’s role.
The study, commissioned by the digital audio advertising network TargetSpot, found that 42% of U.S. households with broadband Internet listen to Internet radio.
That’s not to say that listening to regular radio — that is, the stuff on an AM/FM station — is in decline. More than half (65%) of broadcast radio listeners spend the same amount of time listening as do internet radio users. But there is one key exception: There was a steep decline in broadcast listenership among adults aged 18 to 24.
Nearly half of those surveyed (47%) spend less time listening to broadcast radio this year than they did one year ago.
If this trend holds up, where will new radio listeners come from? They're obviously not being made like they used to.
Where are you with your digital strategies? Or are you still committing random acts of digital?
(Thanks to Pete for the link.)
Reader Comments (3)
I agree Alan that this is a pretty obvious finding. What's next: Classic Rock listenership mainly composed of older demographic?
I think "regular" radio will survive for quite a long time, but it will be very specific to formats. Do Classical and Oldies radio stations need to prepare in-depth online strategies? Probably not. But if you're in a Top 40 format, your number is definitely up. Your listenership is going to dwindle incredibly fast, even if you do have an online strategy.
Can AM/FM survive? The mere fact we still have AM says it probably will, but it certainly won't have the same importance it once had.
I hate to say it, but radio in Toronto is nearly unlistenable. The playlists are far too tight, no one goes outside their tight niche, the on-air personalities are generally abrasive and uninteresting, and the unending onslaught of ear-killing commercials is growing more and more tiresome by the day. I only listen to it at the office and in the car. But, if my car had an AUX jack, I'd plug in my iPod.
I myself mainly listen to internet radio, but oddly enough it's foreign terrestrial stations I listen to. Somehow, outside of North America, they've actually figured out how to do radio.
Well said Jacob. I lived out there and grew sick of the local radio stations a long time ago. I've been living on the West Coast for the last year now, and so with new markets to explore, I started giving it a chance again. Mostly just in the cat on the 25 minute commute to/from work. I gave up on CFOX within a month, I could repeatedly make the entire trip and not hear a single song between commercials and horrid banter.
I started to revisit listening to Seattles KNND The End, and it gets most of the airplay now, but if I could tune in any other station at all that I'd be interested in listening too, I would. The biggest killer to them is their over-playing of the same incredibly small play-list. I used to love that Gotye song, but when you hear it each way, every day, without fail, it gets a little much. I've even heard it twice on the same trip once before, that's just not necessary. Just yesterday I made a short drive into town, heard it, made a pitstop in a fast food restaurant for a quick lunch, and heard it again on the way back.
I listen to my iPod pretty much any time I'm in the car now, save for when my wife is with me. Most times when she is, we have started listening to hers. Radio is dead to us, and it's their own fault.