Radio Gains More Than 3 Million Listeners

Arbitron Inc.'s RADAR 107 National Radio Listening Report, which was released December 12, shows an increase of 3.3 million radio listeners age 12 and older per week, versus the December 2009 report.  The number of persons 12 and older listening to radio each week now reaches an estimated 239.8 million – 93.2 percent of all Americans 12 and older.

In addition to persons 12 and older, radio listening increased year-over-year across major demographic groups, with adults aged 18 to 34 showing the biggest gains. The number of adults aged 18 to 34 who are weekly radio listeners increased nearly 960,000 in the past year, and adults aged 25 to 54 gained more than 750,000 in the same period. Meanwhile, teens aged 12 to 17 continue to embrace radio broadcasts with an average weekly increase of 365,000 versus last year's report.

Despite the proliferation of competing media platforms, radio continues to reach just about everyone on a regular basis. RADAR 107 indicates that, over the course of a week, radio is listened to by more than 92 percent of all teens aged 12 to 17, 94 percent of adults aged 18 to 34, and 95 percent of adults in the 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 age brackets.

 

Radio's Diverse Appeal
The data from RADAR 107 showcases radio's penetration among various ethnic groups, particularly Black (non-Hispanic) and Hispanic, a direct result of airing an array of formats.

 

  • Overall, radio continues to reach more than 93 percent of Black (non-Hispanic) persons aged 12 and older and more than 95 percent of Hispanics aged 12 and older on a weekly basis. Hispanic listeners 12 years and older grew more than 1.4 million year-over-year.

 

  • More Hispanic teens aged 12 to 17 are tuning in to radio, versus the same period a year ago. This demographic group increased 177,000 average weekly listeners, year-over-year.
  • Black (non-Hispanic) and Hispanic adults aged 18 to 49 demonstrated the biggest gains in overall weekly radio listenership versus last year, showing an increase of 165,000 and 834,000, respectively.

 

On an average week, radio reaches 95 percent of adults 18 and older with a household income of $75K or more. More than 96 percent of adults aged 25 to 54 that are college graduates and have a household income of over $50K tune in to radio weekly. Radio also delivers 96 percent of adults aged 18 to 49 with a college degree.

Network Radio Commercials
Arbitron also reported in its December 2010 RADAR 107 radio network audience ratings that more than 189 million persons 12 and older heard one or more network radio commercials in an average week of the survey period. That's an increase of over 800,000 versus the December 2009 report.

The RADAR 107 survey period demonstrates network radio's continued broad reach across all key demographics on a year-over-year basis. Among the prime audience demographics sought by advertisers, the commercials aired on the 54 radio networks reached:

 

  • 73.7 percent of persons aged 12+ (189,685,000 persons)
  • 74.1 percent of persons aged 18+ (172,292,000 persons)
  • 73.3 percent of persons aged 35+ (118,732,000 persons)
  • 76.6 percent of persons aged 18-49 (103,455,000 persons)
  • 76.9 percent of persons aged 25-54 (97,537,000 persons)

 

(Source: Arbitron, 12/13/10)