Jay Allen Says There's Plenty of Reasons to Believe Radio Will Survive

Jay Allen writes:

Here are some facts that help prove that the doomsayers are being overly negative about hopes for the survival of radio... interesting stuff here...see below.

Jay Allen Radio Adds 1.6 Million Listeners Arbitron Inc. has announced highlights from its March 2013 RADAR 116 National Radio Listening Report. The report shows radio's audience increased year over year, adding more than 1.6 million weekly listeners. Radio now reaches 242.8 million listeners on an average weekly basis. Teens aged 12 to 17 shows the largest gains among the major age demographics. Radio now reaches nearly 23 million teens in an average week.

Radio listening also remains steady among Adults aged 18 to 34, reaching 66.5 million people, or 92%, in this demographic. Radio's Diversity Radio continues to reach a large, diverse audience. According to the March 2013 RADAR report, radio saw gains in the Black (non-Hispanic) audience across all major demographic groups versus the March 2012 report. The Hispanic audience also grew, adding nearly 1.1 million listeners in an average week. Radio's Black (non-Hispanic) audience aged 12 and older added 741,000 weekly listeners versus the March 2012 RADAR report. Radio reaches more than 92% of Black (non-Hispanic) listeners aged 12 and older in an average week. Black (non-Hispanic) Adults aged 18 to 34 shows the most gain, adding more than 200,000 listeners in an average week, versus the year ago report. Radio now reaches more than 39.5 million Hispanics aged 12 and older in an average week, or 95% of this demographic. Hispanic adults aged 25 to 54 shows the largest gains, adding more than 1.1 million weekly listeners versus the year ago report. Radio Expands Its Audience with New Platforms A new feature in the RADAR 116 March 2013 report is the inclusion of listening metrics for HD multicasts and AM/FM/HD streaming stations. The data shows that radio is using new platforms effectively to reach more listeners. According to the RADAR March 2012 report, HD multicasts reach nearly 3.6 million persons aged 12 and older. Streams of AM/FM/HD radio also reach a broad audience. More than 5.4 million persons aged 12 and older tune into AM/FM/HD streams during an average week. Adults aged 18 to 49 make up the majority of this audience, with more than 3.5 million people in this demographic accessing streaming AM/FM/HD stations in an average week. The RADAR March 2013 Report includes data from all 48 Arbitron PPM™ markets. The survey dates for RADAR 116 were from January 5, 2012 to December 5, 2012. (03-11-13)

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Comments

[Doug T.]

Sure radio will survive, and if you like the formats provided by Clear Channel (and the other mega-broadcasters) you'll be super happy. But I miss the days when there lots of independent local stations on the dial.

[herculodge]

The Bay Area used to have KGO 810 AM; it's been degraded into a soulless radio machine.

[StarHalo]

It sounds to me like a lot of these numbers are teens getting cars, in a society where it's becoming more of a given that a teen will need to own a car.

Also, KGO's management has stated that they want to move back to the all-talk format, stay tuned..

[herculodge]

All-talk again? Excellent. So they're listening to the disgruntled ex fans.

[StarHalo]

And if you weren't already aware: Bill Wattenburg is on KSCO Sunday nights, Gene Burns was on KKSF until he had his stroke; Len Tillem and Gil Gross are still there weekday evenings, Karel is on daily at GCN online radio, and Bernie Ward will be released from prison at the end of next year..

[Angelo]

I like local radio stations too, including college radio. But the fact is----companies who own radio stations are fixated on profits. They will find the least expensive way to make the most money. People are listening----in the tens of millions----to these nationally syndicated shows. If there was really an outcry for more local programming, and the big national shows were shunned/unpopular----station owners would respond. But that isn't the case. Radio is more popular than it's been in my lifetime----right now----it's not going anywhere. AM-FM are both doing well enough to expect more decades of being able to use our prized collections. And I'm not so sure SW is in "big trouble" either. People love to speak with authority about trends----what's in, what's out, what's about to go away and what is about to emerge. One thing I've learned: The only thing that's predictable is how unpredictable things really are.

[Bob Balser]

Here in the UK there have been plans to do away with FM for a few years & use digital(DAB) but because of the economy plans are on hold,also plans to abandon AM(Medium wave)