Industry news
Is radio still relevant? It is for now - study
Edison Research and Triton Digital earlier this month released their latest study on consumer adoption of digital media, The Infinite Dial 2014. The national survey based on the US market revealed some noteworthy statistics for radio and music - if this is your industry, pay attention.
“The Internet of Things means audio in everything internet,” said Mike Agovino, COO, Triton Digital. “Scaling connectivity across a plethora of devices is enabling tremendous growth in online radio consumption. Listening levels have reached significant proportions across all demographic groups, and this year’s Infinite Dial study illustrates a definitive upward trajectory.”
Let's have a look at some of what the study revealed:
- Online radio audience numbers are on a steady rise as monthly figures in the US approach half of Americans.
Note: Online radio includes listening to AM/FM radio stations online and/or listening to streamed audio content available only on the internet.
- 75% of those aged between 12-24 and 50% of those between 25-54 listen to online radio monthly
- 64% of those aged between 12-24 listen to online radio weekly
- 43% of those aged between 12-14 have listened to online radio in a car via cell phone
- Pandora is winning in the public awareness arena at 70% with 50% of smartphone owners having downloaded the app. iHeartRadio and iTunes Radio lag way behind Pandora at 48% and 47% respectively, in terms of public awareness.
- When it comes to music and music videos, a significant number of those aged between 12-24 turn to YouTube, with 60% in the last week of the survey.
Here's the answer to those wondering whether AM/FM radio is still relevant:
- 86% of those aged 18+ use AM/FM radio in the car, 58% of that group use the medium far more frequently than other in-car audio options.
- 47% of the group believe it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to keep up-to-date with music, and of that established group 35% use AM/FM radio most frequently to keep up-to-date with music.
- 83% of those aged 12-24 use YouTube as their top source for keeping up-to-date with music, with friends/family and Pandora coming in a close second at 71% each.
Observations from the full report
- Mobile devices are rewiring behaviour extremely quickly
- The Internet Audio pie continues to grow - the leading services are growing, but so far no evidence it’s at one another’s expense
- Competition flourishing across platforms and contexts
- Clear generational differences in media habits
- The debut of iTunes Radio has brought new audience to the medium
- Google is a significant player in Internet Audio - Google Play All Access is growing, and YouTube is tops for music discovery among 12-24s
- Even with new entrants, Pandora continues to flourish
- AM/FM Radio streams are an important part of Online Radio usage
- While Facebook and Twitter growth are slowing, mobile image sharing is hot
- Instagram and Snapchat heavily used by 12-24s
- AM/FM Radio is the leading source to keep up-to-date with music
- Podcasts are getting hotter - the percentage of monthly listeners grew strongly year-over-year
- Podcasts are getting hotter - the percentage of monthly listeners grew strongly year-over-year
The study, released today, is the 22nd in a series of studies dating back to 1998.
Watch the video of the report or download the full Infinite Dial 2014 report (pdf).
