A short while ago, I invited anyone interested to visit socalradiowaves.com to take a short survey about radio listening habits. Not shows you like or stations you prefer, but how you listen to the radio.
By radio, I mean regular broadcast radio stations heard over the air or otherwise. I purposely left out satellite and other non-broadcast stations because I wanted to get an idea of how many listen via a traditional radio versus more modern technologies.
This is not a scientific survey. It is not set up as one, and any high school statistics student can tell you there are multiple biases at work here. It is voluntary in nature; the pool of those being surveyed comes from a singular source (readers of this newspaper and this column), and I didn’t set it up to make sure participants couldn’t respond more than once.
In other words, it would earn a fail if constructed for a high school course, though it would probably still be light-years ahead of most studies quoted online. Regardless, for what it is, it gives some interesting insights into some of the listening habits of, at press time, 88 respondents.
The first question was “how do you listen to the radio,” and asked for every way you listen. Unremarkably, the top answer was 30% who said they listen on a car radio using the built-in tuner. Add that to the 10% who listen on a portable radio, and 9% using a home stereo, and you see that roughly half the respondents listen via a traditional radio.
But wait … that means roughly half listen at least occasionally using other means. Streaming through a phone at home or while walking accounted for 16%, 10% stream through a computer, 9.5% stream on their phone in a car, 9% use an app built into the car and 6% stream using a smart speaker. That’s very technologically advanced!
When asked how you usually listen to the radio, with the same choices as above, the winner by a long shot was using a car radio with its own tuner at 48%. Adding together all “regular radios,” the total came to 70%. Yet that leaves a full 30% listening via streaming — a very high number. Most streaming was done using a phone at home or while walking (14%) or on a smart speaker (6%). Surprisingly, apps built into the car infotainment system accounted for only 1% as a “usual” choice.
What smartphone apps do you use? Just over 25% said “none.” But just under 25% said they use the iHeartRadio app, putting it just slightly above individual station apps at 24%. Audacy came in at 10%, while TuneIn Radio was about nine.
What smartphone apps do you usually use? iHeart was the top among those who use apps at a bit over 26%. Followed by individual station apps (25%), TuneIn Radio (6%), and pulling up the rear was Audacy at just over 2%.
For those who use automotive infotainment apps, the leader again was iHeart at 28%, with TuneIn Radio at 7%. But this one was a bit skewed due to extra choices being made that were not part of the original survey, including Sirius, None, Don’t Have One, and a couple of NAs.
And finally, my favorite question — when streaming using apps or smartphone speakers, do you usually listen to local stations or to those from another city — over 50% listen locally. That bodes well for our local stations and our local advertisers who support those stations. Twenty-three percent say they listen to stations from another area, and the rest said they don’t listen via apps or smart speakers at all.
I find that in my case, it depends. If I want to listen to a local AM station, I often use an app in the car for better fidelity. For local FMs, I just use the tuner. But I often find myself using apps to tune into KFMW Rock 108 from Iowa, AM stereo WION from Michigan, The Gamut WSHE from Virginia, or 93/KHJ from American Samoa. Those are some of my favorites, not counting stations that only stream and thus were ineligible to be counted in this survey.
The takeaway for me is that traditional broadcast radio is still the dominant way that people listen to the radio. Or at least people who read this column and took the survey. I imagine that will be the case for quite some time, though for some stations, especially on AM, I could see people wanting apps just for the increased fidelity.
I won’t report on the results again, but the survey is still open if you have not taken it yet. Once you submit your answers, you can see the overall results and compare with your own.
And if you have a suggestion for a future totally unscientific survey, let me know.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com.