Yup, they still Listen

Arbitron is to the radio business what Nielsen is to the TV business, They are the primary rating service.

Originally, the data was supposed to help radio programmers determine who listened, however it then became a tool for the sales departments to sell advertising. Either way, it shows some interesting info:

US Radio Reaches 93% of Adults

Radio stations in the US reach more than 235 million diverse listeners over the course of a week, with 93% of all adults age 18-34 tuning in to radio, according to preliminary findings from Arbitron’s RADAR 98 (September 2008) radio listening estimates.

Key findings:

• Over the course of a week, radio reaches 95% of adults age 18-49 with a college degree, and 96% of adults age 25-54 with a college degree and an annual income of $50,000 or more.
• Radio reaches 95% of Black Non-Hispanics and 96% of Hispanics age 25-54 over the course of a week.
• 94% of Black Non-Hispanic persons and 95% of Hispanic persons, age 12 and older tune into radio over the course of a week.
• RADAR Network Affiliates - which account for more than 50% of all radio stations - reach nearly 85% of adults 18-34 and 85% of those 25-54 in households with a college degree and annual household income of $75,000 or above.
• The number of radio listeners is up from last year’s RADAR 94 estimates of 232 million.

About the research: RADAR, the a measure of national network radio ratings, tracks 58 affiliated individual radio networks. These networks are operated by ABC Radio Networks, American Urban Radio Networks, Crystal Media Networks, Dial Global Inc., Premiere Radio Networks, United Stations Radio Networks and Westwood One Radio Networks. The sample size for RADAR 98 now comprises 275,088 respondents.

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