Nielsen Report Profiles Heavy Radio Listeners

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Recently, Nielsen released the Audio Today report profiling the listening habits of the 243 million Americans who use radio each week. The report also included a profile of the heaviest users across four media sectors. And an interesting headline emerged: heavy radio listeners are for the most part, mutually exclusive. These heavy radio listeners listen to nearly double the amount of radio each week as heavy TV viewers.

Employment is the driving force behind these differences as the majority of all radio usage nationwide comes from the employed audience while they are away from home. Based on habits alone, it is highly unlikely that a heavy radio listener would also be a heavy TV viewer because the heavy radio listener is much more likely to be away from home more often -- where TV viewing is less likely to occur.

This is a major reason why the findings of other Nielsen studies which have shown that radio does an exceptional job of increasing TV tune-in, particularly in the days and hours leading up to a premier or other primetime event. The consumers most likely to be reached by a tune-in promotion on the radio are not big TV viewers and therefore offer the most opportunity to convert a set of ears on the dial into a pair of eyes on the screen. The same holds true when reversing the situation. Radio broadcasters have for years used TV as an important marketing vehicle to entice new listeners to tune in.

In fact, of the four media profiled in the report, heavy radio listeners and heavy Internet users actually have the most in common, not just in their age and working status, but also in how they spend their time. Heavy radio listeners spend nearly nine hours a week online, second only to the heavy Internet group at over 16 hours weekly. And both of these groups are very likely to use social media to stay connected.

Nearly all (92%) heavy Internet users also use social media, and three-quarters of heavy radio listeners do, too. In today's crowded media jungle, knowing where to focus attention is crucial for marketers and content creators. Reaching enthusiastic users on their favorite medium is the most efficient way to make sure your messages hit home.

Read the entire Nielsen report by clicking here.