MORE DIVERSITY, AFFLUENCE, EDUCATION – AND TEENS!
The Greek Chorus of naysayers that has been intoning the erosion of radio will get a collective muzzling next week from Arbitron. Its soon-to-be-released RADAR 107 National Radio Listening Report not only shows that radio listening is actually up – 3,300,000 more overall weekly listeners 12+ than last year – but that, far from deserting radio, younger listeners are turning to it in large numbers.
And for those who sell radio advertising, there’s money all the way through the new nationwide listening survey.
RADAR 107, a year-long measuring stick of network radio listening, covers 54 individual radio networks and calls itself “the standard currency for national network radio ratings”. Since so many stations now rely on networks like Westwood One, Dial Global, American Urban Radio, Premiere and the rest for all or part of their daily programming, this is an important – and uplifting – study.
Let’s jump into the advance numbers. Don’t worry, the water’s fine. Really fine.
The Kids Are More Than Alright
Particularly gratifying to those of us who never bought the argument that radio has become too un-hip for younger listeners in the iPod Era is this little gem from the Report:
Teens aged 12 to 17 continue to embrace radio broadcasts with
an average weekly increase of 365,000 versus last year’s report.
There’s also great news for stations that want to embrace young Hispanics:
More Hispanic Teens aged 12 to 17 are tuning in to radio versus
the same period a year ago. This demographic group increased
(by) 177,000 average...listeners a week, year over year.
The growing number of Hispanic Teens in the radio universe can only be a strong signal that radio continues to offer something for everyone.
Strength in the 12-17 demo is far more important than it used to be. Where even an enormous teen audience was once thought fit only to be sold acne medication and Coca-Cola, that bunch is now far more affluent. And, of course, the habit of regularly listening to radio continues after the teen years.
Diversity Continues Strong
I’ve seen the advance numbers and they’re impressive. RADAR 107, which will be released December 13th, shows radio’s array of formats appeals to a strongly diverse spectrum of Black and Hispanic listeners.
The categories of Black and Hispanic Adults 18-49 produced the most impressive gains against last year’s numbers, up 165,000 Black listeners and a whopping 834,000 Hispanic listeners.
Overall, the RADAR Report says that radio reaches 93 percent of Black and 95% of Hispanic listeners 12+ on a weekly basis.
Radio Reaches Educated, Upscale Adults
Radio’s favorite “money demographics” are healthy, too. Consider what the new Arbitron report says about these advertiser must-haves:
- College grads 18-49: radio delivers 96 percent
- Adults 18+ with household incomes of $75,000 per year or better: radio reaches 95 percent
- And radio reaches, on an average week, a supremely bankable 96 percent of 25-54 adults who are college graduates and have household incomes of at least $50,000
RADAR (Radio’s All Dimension Audience Research) 107 includes data from 40 Arbitron PPM markets on a September-to-September year.
Here’s the bottom line we should all take from numbers like these:
Radio’s audience is not only growing – it’s doing so hand-in-hand with new technology.
Stop worrying. Go sell something!
