Broadcast radio still is the most popular option among today’s audio consumers, according to new research released by Harker Research, which was conducted amongst 500 adults 18-49 in Chicago, New York, Raleigh, San Francisco and Tampa. It should be noted that Pandora is not available in Canada and, therefore, it is likely that radio in Canada performs even better than this research indicates.
The three key points that jump out of me from looking at this data is that listeners like radio because of the convenience and the local connection that radio delivers. They are also tuning more than ever before using multiple devices such as computers, and smart-phones.
Here are ten key findings of this research:
1- Listeners are Media Multi-Taskers.
2- Listeners are still tuning in to radio… just with many more devices than before.
3- Audio consumers are streaming in record numbers – and listening to many local radio stations.
4- Broadcast listeners prefer their P1 station to Pandora.
5- With so many choices, no audio source is “irreplaceable.”
6- Convenience is the key to radio’s success and listeners expect broadcast radio on every device.
7- Radio’s social interaction remains important. It has just moved to the web.
8- Local information and personalities drive media consumers to radio.
9- Radio remains the dominant audio source in the car.
10- Local radio wins in convenience and ease of use with respondents saying that it the most user-friendly device and there is no need to “manage” a playlist. Perhaps these are benefits radio needs to do a better job of selling.
Conclusion
Listeners want to feel locally connected to their local radio station, so providing you deliver all the local information, your on-air personalities are truly connected to your community, and you play the right music, then based on this research your station will continue to be successful.
You can learn more about the study by visiting their website here.
You can download the .pdf summary report here.
