Ipod, Schmipod, Radio Listening Remains Strong

Survey Finds Listening Habits Haven’t Changed Much in Five Years; Radio Serves as the Primary Source to Learn About New Music

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Sept. 13, 2006) Despite the various new media to receive music and news, only a little more than one in four Americans (27 percent) said they are now listening to the radio less than they did five years ago. According to a survey commissioned by American Media Services, about half (51 percent) said their radio listening hasn’t changed during the past five years, and 21 percent said they are now listening more.

When asked to look ahead five years, only 11 percent said they expect to be listening to the radio less than they do now. Nearly three out of four (74 percent) said they expect to listen about the same, and 13 percent said they expect to listen more.

“Radio plays a vital role in American life. Reports of radio’s death seem greatly exaggerated,” said Ed Seeger, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Media Services (AMS), which commissioned the survey.

The survey found that Americans rate radio as their primary source to learn about new music. When asked which ways they learn about new music, 63 percent said by listening to the radio. In comparison, 43 percent said it can be through talking with friends, 41 percent cited watching television, 24 percent cited reviews in newspapers or magazines, and 16 percent cited the internet.

Men are more likely than women, incidentally, to listen to the radio over the internet. Forty percent of men, compared with 32 percent of women, said they have listened to the radio over the internet, but the gender gap is likely to close in the future. Forty-two percent of men and 41 percent of women (a statistically insignificant difference) described themselves as likely to listen to radio over the internet in the future.

The telephone survey of 1,008 Americans adults was conducted Aug. 11-13, 2006, for American Media Services by Omnitel, the weekly omnibus survey by the national polling firm of GfK NOP of Princeton, N.J. The survey is considered accurate within plus or minus 3 percentage points.

AMS is a full-service radio brokerage, engineering and developmental engineering firm, and its developmental division leads the country in successfully implementing station upgrades by moving them into larger markets, dramatically increasing their value. Since its founding in 1997, AMS has increased the value of 21 stations across the country by $205.1 million, and more than $200 million in proposed rulemakings are currently pending before the FCC.