How U.S. Adults use Radio & other forms of Audio.

The Video Consumer Mapping (VCM) Study, sponsored by the Council for Research Excellence, is used to examine audio media usage among participants in five DMAs: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Using a direct observation method, the final sample included 752 observed days (half in Spring 2008, half in Fall 2008), with 3/4 million minutes of observation, at 10 second resolution throughout those days.

The key findings from the study included:

– 90% of adults are exposed to some form of audio media on a daily basis, with broadcast radio having by far the largest share of listening time.

– Exposure to audio listening falls into four tiers in terms of level of usage among listeners:

(1) broadcast & satellite radio (79.1% daily reach; 122 minutes daily use among users),

(2) CDs and tapes (37.1% daily reach; 72 minutes); (3) portable audio [ipods/MP3 players] ( 11.6% daily reach; 69minutes), digital audio stored on a computer such as
music files downloaded or transferred to and played on a computer (10.4% daily reach; 65 minutes average use), and digital audio streamed on a computer (9.3% daily reach; 67 minutes) and (4) audio on mobile phones (<2% daily reach; 9 minutes). The Role of Portable Audio Devices: i). Importantly MP3 and iPod players averaged only 8 minutes of listening per day among the entire observed sample, with just under 90% of the sample not listening at all . ii) Among listeners (11.6%), the highest reach was among those aged 18 to 34 years (20.8%), singles (18.5%), and those who tend to be more technology-savvy (18.2%) iii) Even among those who use other forms of audio media, broadcast radio still has a broad reach. For instance, among those who also listened to portable audio devices such as MP3 players or iPods, broadcast radio had a daily reach of 81.6% reach and 97 minutes of average listening time among those who listen to radio - Audio media exposure has the highest reach among those with higher levels of education and income. - Broadcast radio is the dominant form of audio media at home, work, and in the car. - Broadcast radio reaches those aged 18-34 at rates equivalent to the general adult population, with 79.2% of younger adults listening to broadcast radio for an average of 104 minutes a day among listeners. - Among key “advertising-based” media platforms, live television had the highest reach and daily usage among users (95.3%, 331 minutes), followed by broadcast radio (77.3% reach, 109 minutes), Web/Internet [excluding use of email] (63.7%, 77 minutes), newspapers (34.6%, 41 minutes), and magazines (26.5%, 22 minutes). - On average, individuals spend almost identical amounts of time during weekdays (454 minutes) as they do on weekends (458 minutes) using one of the five key media sources. To download report CLICK on link below: http://www.researchexcellence.com/.../VCM_Radio-Audio_Report_FINAL_29Oct09.pdf>