Survey: Half of pubradio listeners use Facebook
Public radio listeners are increasingly buying smartphones and joining social networking sites such as Facebook, expanding stations’ opportunities to serve them on those platforms, according to the second Public Radio Technology Survey conducted by the radio research firm Jacobs Media.
Results of the survey, involving more than 28,000 listeners to 56 public radio stations, were presented Sept. 17 at the PRPD Conference. The study will be posted at prpd.org.
Users of social networking sites and services nearly doubled, climbing 81 percent from 2008 to 2009, with 60 percent of respondents saying they used such sites. The increase was so dramatic that the researchers at first doubted the finding, said Fred Jacobs, who presented the study. The boost is “redefining what community means,” said Jacobs.
Facebook powered much of the growth, with usage rising from 22 percent to 48 percent. Many of the new users were 35 or older.
About a quarter of respondents with cell phones owned smartphones. More than half of those had bought the devices within the last year. Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch — an Internet-connected gadget, though not a phone, was included in the category — accounted for half of the smartphones. One-third of the smartphone owners had downloaded apps for streaming public radio stations on their devices. Two-thirds said they would consider paying for such applications, suggesting an untapped revenue stream.
Jacobs also pointed out that more listeners are using their cell phones as alarm clocks, suggesting that fewer are waking up to clock radios playing public radio.
Listeners to Adult Album Alternative stations and listeners ages 25 to 54 proved to be the earliest adopters of new-media habits. Seventy percent of AAA listeners were on social networking sites, and 72 percent own MP3 players. They were also among the most avid listeners to web streams, and more than the overall sample’s average owned smartphones.
The survey found that 28 percent of respondents who listen to Web streams listen to the customizable Internet radio site Pandora, up from 17 percent in 2008. “There’s no question this guy is out to kill us all,” Jacobs said of Pandora’s founder.
Participants were surveyed from July 30 to Aug. 21. Most were members of station e-mail or membership databases and were asked via e-mail to participate. Others clicked links on station websites or social networking pages, and some were prompted by on-air announcements.
[The first Public Radio Technology Survey was taken in fall 2008, sponsored by PRPD, the Integrated Media Association and NPR. The second was scheduled for August, PRPD said, to avoid fall pledge drives and to allow the results to be presented at PRPD's own meeting.]
Final paragraph above not included in print edition.
Web page posted Sept. 22, 2009
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