Radio, broadcasting’s cockroach, continues to do well
I really get tired when people spout off about radio being dead. “Who listens to the radio anymore?” Plenty of folks, it turns out.
Vividata just finished another study of Canadian consumers and found that 78% of adults in this country (24.5 million) listen to radio/audio content every week. Not only that, but the amount of time spent listening to radio/audio has jumped from nine hours a week in 2021 to 13 hours last year.
A couple of other things.
- Podcasts now reach 29% of Canadians (8.9 million), an increase of 22% (6.8 million) two years ago.
- Those who do listen spend an average of an hour a day with their favourite podcasts.
- Radio is still the most popular form of audio entertainment (64%), although that is down sharply from 76% in 2021.
- I think I know why, too. The audience for streaming services (free or paid) has popped from 43% to 54%. That’s even higher for people under 35 (66%).
When you say radio, does that include Sirius? Or just AM/FM
I don’t listen to radio in the car because I prefer satellite. However I do listen to a station that I stream via phone. If I didn’t have Satellite I would probably listen to AM/FM more since I don’t always feel like messing with my phone to find something to listen to. Basically, it’s complicated.
I’m in a vehicle quite a bit at work and I listen to the radio all the time. However I’ve abandoned most of the standard commercial stations in favour of college/university, French, jazz, classical and community stations because I’m sick of the repetitive playlists and horrible DJ schtick. I’m a champion of radio and I genuinely wish the commercial stations would actively try to broaden and diversify their playlists and shake loose the tired morning-show/afternoon drive “personality”-based approach to DJing.