Radio Audience Trends

Before satellite, the new radio approach with the biggest expectations was audio on the Internet. To a degree that may be surprising, those expectations have not yet been met.

Getting definitive numbers is difficult, but what data there are suggests that while the number of Americans with broadband or high-speed Internet connections in their homes has quadrupled to some 48% since 2001, Internet radio stations have not attracted nearly the audience even of satellite.

One piece of evidence can be found in Arbitron ratings. As of September 2005, the five largest online radio networks together attracted an average weekly audience of just 3.7 million.

Still, there is growth. According to the Arbitron study, in January of 2000 “only 5% of the population during the past month had listened to Internet broadcasts of over-the-air radio stations or stations available only on the Internet.”11 By January 2005, that number had climbed to 15%. What is interesting is that the largest concentration of online listening is not in the population one might immediately expect, teenagers. Fully 25% of those saying they had listened to Internet radio in the previous month were 35 to 44 years old. Another 17% were in the 45-to-54 range, and 20% were 25 to 34. Among the younger age groups, just 15 percent of those 12 to 17 years old had listened in the past month, and just 11 percent of those in the 18 to 24-age range.

What is it about Internet radio that is drawing these listeners? The attraction to online radio (including traditional stations simulcasting online) can be traced to the same roots as the public’s attraction to the new audio and other online activities: flexibility. People can listen to programs and stations from other areas, at times that are more convenient to their schedules, and to content they might not be able to get anywhere else. In a survey by Arbitron/Edison Media Research, 17% of those who had reported listening to Internet radio said they did so to hear audio they couldn’t get other places, 13% said they wanted more music variety and 15% sought to control or choose the music played.12