FALL, 1995
I have long thought that radio plays a major role in many listeners' lives. We see this firsthand when we conduct focus groups for stations. While there are listeners that don't know what they listen to and don't much care, many talk about "their" station as if it were an integral part of their everyday lives, even a "close friend."
The RADIO W.A.R.S. study I conducted for the N.A.B. more than a decade ago revealed that radio was far more than an "appliance" for most....they had numerous psychological motivations for listening to radio. It was a source of companionship, energy and intellectual stimulation; at the same time, it was a source of relaxation and escape.
And most agreed with the statement: "If you couldn't listen to radio, you'd feel something very important was missing from your life."
As I watched J.P. McCarthy's funeral, I wondered: How important is radio, anyway? And how does its importance compare to the other major electronic medium -- TV?
To find out, we recently conducted 502 telephone interviews nationally (in the "lower 48") among 12-64 year olds. We asked how much time they spend with radio and TV, then asked them to rate each on a five-point scale -- with "one" meaning "not at all important" and "five" meaning "absolutely essential."
Here's what we discovered...
| RADIO IS... | |
| 1--NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT | 9% |
| 2-- | 15 |
| 3-- | 31 |
| 4-- | 24 |
| 5--ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL | 21 |
In fact, 21% say radio is "absolutely essential" in their lives! An additional 70% rate radio as important to varying degrees, while only 9% say radio is "not at all important." That means radio has at least some importance for 91% of all 12-64's!
Demographically, radio is most important to 25-34 year olds, but it averages above 3.0 for all age demos.
| TV IS... | |
| 1--NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT | 10% |
| 2-- | 24 |
| 3-- | 35 |
| 4-- | 17 |
| 5--ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL | 14 |
While 12-64's say they spend more time with TV (an average of 16.6 hours per week versus 14.7 for radio), only 14% of 12-64's say that TV is "absolutely essential"... 7% less than radio.
Demographically, TV is most important for 55-64's. TV does worst among 35-54 year olds, leaning toward the "not at all important," rather than the "absolutely essential" side.
Overall, TV averages 3.0 on our "importance" scale versus radio's 3.3. This difference is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level... meaning we are 95% certain that the difference isn't merely a result of chance. Therefore, radio is significantly more important, on average, than TV in 12-64's lives!
Radio's biggest edge is among 25-34's...it averages 3.6, TV 3.1. (TV's only edge is among 55-64's...it averages 3.3 versus radio's 3.2. But that difference is not statistically significant.)
Radio also has a significant importance edge among women...it averages 3.4 versus TV's 3.0. (Men also rate radio as more important, but its edge is not significant.)
Interestingly, we find low correlation between the importance of TV and radio. What that means is: "radio junkies" are, for the most part, not "TV junkies" (and vice-versa). Only 29% of those who say radio is absolutely essential say the same for TV. (Conversely, less than half -- 44% -- of those who find TV absolutely essential say the same about radio.)
We've already touched on why radio is important to listeners...it delivers a number of important psychological benefits to them.
Beyond that, I suspect radio is "processed" far differently by listeners than TV is by viewers. Listeners immerse themselves in radio...it literally becomes part of their environment as they progress through their days. Viewers watch TV...it is something external to them, while listeners BREATHE radio.
Only a Cognitive Psychologist could verify or disprove this hypothesis. So at present, we don't necessarily know all of the reasons that radio is so important...just that it is.
For many years, we "research types" have been cautioning radio managers to understand how typical listeners use the medium. "They don't work in radio," we say. "They're not as hip to the music and subtle programming distinctions." "Program to them," we counsel, "not radio junkies."
That remains good advice. But just because listeners aren't knowledgeable about radio does NOT mean that radio is unimportant to them! As this research clearly shows, radio is important to most and extremely important to many.