News/Talk Continues to Trend Up in PPM Results

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, February 28, 2017

When it comes to media consumption, Nielsen reports that 2017 could turn out to be a year where traditional patterns and results don't repeat in the ways seen in the past for radio listening. A new report compares News/Talk listening and how Millennial listening trended in January, 2017 compared to January, 2016. News/Talk has been revitalized by current politics and is breaking new ground with younger listeners, while Millennial audiences aren't listening to the same formats they did as recently as just a year ago.

With the current political climate, News/Talk has dominated the headlines in radio for several months now. The trend continued in January 2017, as News/Talk posted its best numbers since November, 2012 and claimed a new record among listeners 18-to-34. In looking at News/Talk tune-in over the past seven years, the format has gained a full percentage point among Millennials to 4.9% from 3.9%, with the biggest jump happening between January 2016 and January 2017 to 4.9% to 4.1%.

Last year was a banner year for the News/Talk format in PPM markets, as listenership spiked dramatically compared to the year prior. As Nielsen tracks the forthcoming months of this year, it plans to analyze both non-commercial stations (NPR affiliates) as well as commercial ones. In the Nielsen PPM-market database, the News/Talk format identifier includes more than 50 NPR affiliates that are included with hundreds of other stations to create that group.

Given the rise in popularity of the News/Talk format among Millennials, other popular formats among this group of listeners lost share in January. Mainstream CHR, a leading format among Millennials, was off nearly a full share point (12.5 to 11.6%), while Country (9.3% to 7.9%) continued to trend downward with younger audiences. Hot AC (7.5% to 7%) and Regional Mexican (5.2% to 4.8%) were also softer compared with January, 2016, while Sports radio was flat (3.4%).