[IRCA] Young listeners switching radios off

["Marty Rimpau" <mrimpau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all, I got this from another list, and thought you guys would be
interested, so I'm posting this, but I'm not surprised at the research
found below.  
Young listeners switching radios off; But CFNY programer questions
StatsCan's methods to get figures on who is listening

Bruce DeMara
The Toronto Star , June 27, 2007

A report from Statistics Canada shows radio listening is on the
decline,
especially among teenagers and young adults.

According to "measurement data" from the fall of 2006, the number of
listening hours was down to 18.6 per week, compared to 19.1 hours in
2005.
That's a decline of about two hours compared to 1999 data.

Listenership was down the most among teenagers: 7.6 hours a week,
compared
to 8.6 hours in 2005 and 11.3 in 1999. Among young adult men 18 to 24,
the
StatsCan report found listening hours per week down to 13.7 from 15.1
in
2005, and among young women, 14.6 hours compared to 15.4 in 2005.

Jennifer McGuire, executive director of programming for CBC Radio,
agreed
that traditional radio listening has been "trending down for a while."
But
McGuire noted the CBC has managed to keep its audience and attract new
listeners by offering alternatives like satellite radio, podcasts,
downloading and listen-on-demand service.

In fact, more recent figures than the StatsCan report - from spring
2007 -
have given CBC's Radio One some of its best ratings ever, she added.

Alan Cross, program director for 102.1 The Edge, questioned whether the
current "diary" method used to collect data on radio listening habits
is
accurate, especially in relation to young people.

It requires participants to recall programs they've listened to days
afterwards, write them in a ballot and send it to BBM Canada.

"We've known for a very long time that ... the methodology doesn't work
very
well with young people because they're much too busy and not motivated
necessarily to fill in ballots," Cross said.

Next year, a new electronic measurement format using a device that more
accurately records radio listening habits will be used in Canada, Cross
said.

                    Marty
                    http://www.ziff.net/404/404.htm


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