Americans Love Their Radio.

A poll released by Zogby International demonstrates solid appreciation among the American public for radio. According to the results, three-quarters of Americans (76%) were either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the job local radio does in providing, news, information and entertainment programming.

The poll of 1,203 adults chosen at random across the United States was conducted September 22 – 24, by Zogby International for the National Association of Broadcasters. The poll was conducted as a follow up to a similar survey done by Zogby in April of 2003, and has a margin of error of +/- 2.8%..

The poll also asked respondents how valuable local radio would be in the event of a major catastrophe such as a terrorism attack, mass power outage, or inclement weather. More than nine in ten (93%) of respondents said radio would be important in such a circumstance. Even among those who say they “never” listen to the radio, more than 70% recognized radio’s value in this regard.

The survey also asked respondents how frequently their favorite local radio stations play the kind of music they like, and found the most demonstrable support among those Americans who feel music plays an important role in their lives. Of those who said music plays a “very important” role in their lives, 30% said their local radio stations “always” play the kind of music they like and 36% said local radio plays the kind of music they like “most of the time.” Only 12% of these self-identified “music lovers” said local radio “rarely” or “never” plays the kind of music they enjoy.

While radio enjoyed nearly universal high marks across all demographic subgroups, young adults (18-29) gave radio particularly strong ratings in terms of their satisfaction with the medium (84%) and with the music they hear on the radio (74% say their favorite local radio stations play the music they like “always” or “most of the time”).

“These numbers parallel the results we saw in April and once again demonstrate Americans’ strong appreciation for local radio,” said pollster John Zogby. “High levels of support registered across all ages, races, party affiliation, income levels, and gender. When you see numbers this high, you are approaching consensus.”