[cma-l] Australia: 2008 listener survey reveals increase in community radio listening

[Paul Golder]

This would have been great news if it was about the UK ....!



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Salvatore Scifo" <salvatore.scifo at communitymedia.eu>
To: <salvatore.scifo at communitymedia.eu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 7:16 AM
Subject: [cma-l] Australia: 2008 listener survey reveals increase in 
community radio listening


---Apologies for cross-posting----

Source:
http://www.cbonline.org.au/index.cfm?pageId=44,179,3,1585
where detailed fact sheet for every region and full report can be
downloaded in pdf format


More People Listening To Community Radio Than Ever Before

More people are tuning into community radio stations for the local content
and specialised music programs they offer. The 2008 Community Radio
National Listener Survey was
released today and has revealed a loyal following of Australians who
tune into their local community
radio station each month.

The survey found 57 per cent of Australians aged 15 years and above
listen to community radio each
month, an increase of 10 per cent in the last two years.

Deborah Welch, President of the Community Broadcasting Authority of
Australia (CBAA) said the
results are a testament to the high standard of community radio in
Australia and the important role it
plays in the Australian media landscape.
“Community radio attracts a huge number of listeners for the specialist
music programs, local news
and information and the desire to support Australian artists.
“There is a great local flavour to community radio, and you are bound to
hear something you won’t
hear anywhere else on Australian radio,” said Ms Welch.

Why people listen to community radio:
• Specialist music programs (55%)
• Local information and news (53%)
• They play Australian music and support local artists (46%)
• The announcers sound like ordinary people (43%)
“Listeners love local radio because the content is locally relevant, and
the stations are more likely to
respond to the communities within which they serve”.
“Community radio provides a great public service, and also gives budding
local radio enthusiasts and
journalists a chance to get a start in an industry that is unlike any
other.”

Despite growth in listenership, many other community radio stations are
substantially under-funded, inhibiting further growth.

“Funding has stagnated for community radio for the last 14 years, and
its time the Government
recognised the important role these radio stations play in the local
community,” said Ms Welch.

The CBAA in conjunction with the community radio sector is calling on
the Federal Government to inject
much-needed funds into community radio to ensure this vital service is
not lost.

“Local MPs need to get behind their local community radio station and
stand up for local content and
the work of all their fantastic volunteers,” said Ms Welch.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2008 McNair Ingenuity Community Radio National Listener Survey

Executive Summary:

Overall, 71% of Australians aged 15+, are aware of community radio.
People who listen to radio in an average week or month are more likely
to be aware of community radio than the general population. Not
surprisingly, listeners to community radio in an average week or month
are the most likely group of people to be aware of community radio.

Overall, 84% of Australians aged 15+ listen to some radio in the course
of a typical week. 27% of Australians aged 15+, or 4,519,000 people,
listen to community radio in a typical week.
People who tune in to community radio in an average week tend to have a
portfolio of radio listening, with 68% listening to both community radio
and commercial radio, and 53% listening to both community radio and
ABC/SBS radio.

Conversely, 32% of community radio listeners in an average week do not
listen to commercial radio and 47% do not listen to ABC/SBS radio. 16%
of community radio listeners do not listen to either commercial radio or
ABC/SBS radio. In other words, almost 1 in 6 community radio listeners
are exclusive listeners.

Expressed in another way, 4% of Australians aged 15+, or 716,000 people,
are exclusive listeners to community radio in an average week, that is,
listen to community radio but not commercial radio or ABC/SBS radio.

The key reason for listening to community radio is that they have
“specialist music programs”. This is the main reason given by men,
people in the 25-39 age group and people who speak a language other than
English in their household.

For women the key reason for listening to community radio is that they
have “local information / local news”.

For non-metro listeners, “local information/local news” is easily the
most cited reason, followed by other statements with a “local” emphasis.
For metropolitan listeners “specialist music programs” and “programs not
available elsewhere / I hear something that I don’t hear anywhere else”
are the most frequent reasons.

The ranking of local content as a reason for listening increases as
listening time increases, showing that for more dedicated listeners,
local material is increasingly important in their decision to listen to
a community radio station.

Regardless of what time of day people listen to community radio,
“specialist music programs” and “local information / local news” are the
main key motivations for listening. During breakfast “local information
/ local news” is the main reason for listening, during the course of the
day “specialist music programs” are becoming the main reason for
listening to community radio.

Community radio listening varies by State with the Northern Territory
having the most listeners in an average week per head of population aged
15+ (42%) while Canberra has the least number of listeners per head
(18%). Overall, non-metropolitan areas have marginally more listeners
(28%) than metro areas (27%). Based on total audience size, the
metropolitan areas account for nearly 3 in 5 of all community radio
listeners.

Listeners to community radio in an average week spend 7.8 hours
listening to community radio per week. Older people aged 55+ listen the
most to community radio, averaging 9.4 hours per week. People aged 15-24
and 40-54 average 6.4 hours per week, and people aged 25-39 average 8.4
hours per week.

Non-metro listeners are also likely to listen to community radio for
longer, with the time spent listening in non-metro areas averaging 10.1
hours compared to 6.4 hours per week for metro areas. Tasmania is the
State/Territory with the highest level of listening time with 10.4 hours
per week. South Australia and ACT also have high levels of listening
time, averaging 8.9 hours and 8.5 hours per week respectively. Victoria
and the Northern Territory have the least listening time averaging 7.1
hours per week.

Almost half (48%) of community radio listeners in an average week listen
during the afternoon to community radio. About 2 in 5 listen during the
mid-morning and breakfast timeslot and one-third listen during the
evening to community radio.

Females and people aged 25-54 are more likely to listen during
breakfast; whereas men and people aged 15-24 are more likely to listen
during the evening. People who live in the Metro areas are more likely
to listen to community radio during breakfast and evening, while people
living in the regional areas of Australia are more likely to listen
during the mid-morning and afternoon. Community radio draws its audience
from a wide cross section of the community with a reach of at least 23%
of most demographic groups tuning in to community radio during a typical
week. For example, 27% of part-time employed people and 29% of people
whose annual gross income is over $60,000, listen to community radio
during a typical week. 28% of people who regularly speak a language
other than English in their household listen to community radio during a
typical week.

Looking at the demographic profile of the weekly community radio
audience, 54% are men and 46% are women, 18% are aged 15-24, 28% aged
25-39 and 54% aged 40 or over. 47% are engaged in full-time work and 19%
in part-time work. Comparisons by States, cities and non-metro areas of
these groups against the population are shown in the Fact Sheets later
in this report.

The Fact Sheets show monthly audiences as well as weekly audiences.
Overall, 93% of Australians aged 15+ listen to some radio in the course
of a typical month. 57% of Australians aged 15+, or 9,562,000 people,
listen to community radio in a typical month.
42% of community radio listeners in an average week have ever visited a
radio station’s website and 17% have ever visited a community radio
station’s website. 27% have ever listened to a radio program on the
internet and 7% have listened to a community radio program on the
internet. 17% have downloaded a radio program from the internet and 5%
have downloaded a community radio program from the internet.
Corresponding figures among the population as a whole are lower
indicating that community radio listeners are making especially good use
of the internet for listening to radio programs.

The number of Australians aged 15+ listening to community radio in an
average week has risen from 3,767,000 people (24%) in 2004 to 4,034,000
people (25%) in 2006 followed by a rise to 4,519,000 people (27%) in
2008 - an increase of 20% in the total number of people listening since
2004.

The survey shows increases over the four–year period in the number of
community radio listeners in an average week in all States/Territories
except Western Australia (where the numbers have decreased slightly),
among men and women and all major age groups.

The number of Australians aged 15+ listening to community radio in an
average month has risen from 7,054,000 people (45%) in 2004 to 7,515,000
people (47%) in 2006 followed by a rise to 9,562,000 people (57%) in
2008 – an increase of 36% in the total number of people listening since
2004.



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