USA, tra alti e bassi la radio cambia e si impone

Le notizie sulle ultime statistiche e analisi relative alle abitudini di ascolto e alla pubblicità radiofonici negli USA ci dicono che il nostro mezzo preferito sta subendo radicali trasformazioni. Ma non nel senso di un declino irreversibile, al contrario. E' vero, l'ascolto della radio in onde medie e FM sembra in calo e anche i fatturati pubblicitari perdono colpi da anni. Eppure, in una visione più ampia, che tenga conto della radio in ogni sua forma come metodo di fruizione di contenuti e informazione (anche commerciale e pubblicitaria), non sembra esserci motivo di pessimismo. Se mettiamo insieme le cifre riguardanti la radio satellitare e online, il quadro è addirittura di segno opposto: la radio è seguita, piace, guadagna terreno su altri media, conferma il suo primato nel convogliare l'attenzione del pubblico verso nuovi cantanti e gruppi musicali e nel 2010, secondo BIA Financial Network, giugnerà a una inversione di tendenza nella raccolta degli spot.
Culturalmente sono legato alla radio convenzionale, la mia grande passione nel tempo libero è dare la caccia a segnali che probabilmente un giorno non ci saranno più, o saranno immersi dal rumore generato dalle modulazioni digitali. Ma in fondo la radio "a noi ci piace" e ci piacerà comunque, anche se dovremo consumarla in altro modo. Altri cento di questi anni, cara, insostituibile scatola parlante.

Radio Not Expected to Grow Until 2010

Following a 2.3 decrease in station revenue last year, radio revenue in 2008 is projected to dip even more, by 3.1 percent, due in large part to the economy.

Katy Bachman APRIL 08, 2008

A turnaround in the beleaguered radio business isn't expected this year. In fact, the business may not climb out of negative growth until 2010, according to a new report from BIA Financial Network. Following a 2.3 decrease in station revenue last year, radio revenue in 2008 is projected to dip even more, by 3.1 percent, due in large part to the economy.
The radio marketplace is expected to improve in 2009, ending the year with nearly flat (down 0.2 percent) growth. By 2010, BIAFN is forecasting 0.9 percent growth.
"While it has been a rough several years for radio the efforts it is making to engage its listeners online and through the digital airwaves will hopefully coe to fruition in the next few years," said Mark Fratrik, vp of BIAFN.
Radio closed the year with $17.9 billion revenue, slightly lower than the $18.1 billion in 2006, 2005 and 2004.

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Online Consumers Flock To New Forms Of Radio
April 11, 2008

For today's online consumers, listening to radio via delivery methods other than terrestrial, such as Internet radio, satellite radio, radio channels on cable TV systems and podcasts, accounts for 38 percent of their total radio listening time. The figures were released in a recent study, RadioNext, sponsored by Solutions Research Group, Ando Media, and RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter.
According to the respondents in the study, AM/FM radio listening comprised only 62 percent of the hours they spent listening to the radio in the week prior to being surveyed. The total share of listening to AM and FM radio increases to 70 percent when listening to AM/FM streaming is included. Online streaming represents 16 percent of all reported time spent with radio, split evenly between AM/FM streaming and Internet-only radio. Satellite radio and the music channels offered through cable and satellite TV systems each account for an 11 percent piece of the pie. Among this sample of online consumers, listening to podcasts represent only 1 percent of total time spent with radio.
"These consumers were all reasonably online-savvy, because it was an online survey, and their radio listening behavior was self-reported rather than objectively tracked," said Kurt Hanson, publisher of RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter. “As such, the results are certainly a bit more ‘ahead of the curve’ than we’d see today in a study of the general population as a whole. Nonetheless, these results can certainly be considered a bellwether of where radio is headed in the near future."
Hanson added, "What this study highlights is that while Arbitron data may show that AM/FM listening is declining slightly each year, the bigger picture is this: Listening to radio in all of its forms is almost certainly growing significantly."
Full results of this online survey of 2,378 North Americans aged 18 and over will be released on Monday, April 14 at the RAIN Las Vegas Summit.

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AMS Study: Radio Listenership Still Strong
April 8, 2008

According to a nationwide telephone survey released by American Media Services (AMS), loyalty to radio remains strong as 61 percent of American adults say they listen to the radio at least once a day. About seven out of 10 continue to say that they listen to the radio about the same or more than they did five years ago, and 73 percent usually turn on the radio when they get in the car. The AMS survey also found that 33 percent said they’ve listened to a radio station on the Internet – half of whom have done so in the past month – compared with only 12 percent who said they have listened to HD Radio.
As for commercials, about half (53 percent) said they usually stay tuned to the same station when commercials come on, while 35 percent change the station. Only 8 percent said they turn off the radio. Furthermore, of those who change the station, more than 77 percent do so within about 30 seconds or less.
"The findings are interesting from many standpoints," said AMS Chairman of the Board Edward F. Seeger. "They show that ‘regular’ radio remains a strong industry even while other audio devices are available. And perhaps because the Internet is broadly accessible, many more Americans have listened to the radio over the Internet than have purchased the equipment to listen to HD radio. These are important trends for the radio industry to keep in mind."

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Radio Still The First Source For New Music

NEW YORK -- April 9, 2008: In Arbitron and Edison Media Research's new "Infinite Dial: Radio's Digital Platforms" study, 49 percent of respondents said radio is the first place they turn to find out about new music. That's down from 63 percent in 2002, but still well ahead of the Internet, the first choice of 25 percent. But the Internet is catching: It was the first choice of just 9 percent in 2002.
"Radio has to reinvigorate its image as a destination to discover new music," Edison VP Tom Webster said. He said he's seen studies that show radio is losing that image to the Internet and continued, "Radio's role as the facilitator of music discovery may never be the same, now that the Internet has truly realized its potential here." Webster added, "Broadcast radio must make music discovery an important part of the brand."

Radio Still Has An Impact

Survey respondents were also asked, on a scale from one to five, to rate whether particular audio platforms or devices have had a "big impact" (five) or "no impact at all" (one) on their lives.
Cell phones got the most fives, from 44 percent of respondents, and iPhones in particular got fives from 28 percent. But local AM and FM Radio was third, with 22 percent of respondents saying radio has had a "big impact." The iPod got fives from 22 percent of respondents, satellite radio 20 percent, non-iPod MP3 players 12 percent, HD Radio 8 percent, online radio 6 percent, and audio podcasts got fives from 3 percent of respondents.
Despite all the new technologies available, 77 percent of respondents said they expect to continue to listen to radio as much as they do now. And, based on diary results, that's what they're doing. The "Infinite Dial" survey was largely based on re-interviews of Arbitron fall 2007 diarykeepers. The diaries showed that time spent with radio each day among all respondents was two hours, 48 minutes. For digital audio listeners -- those who have ever listened to a podcast, who subscribe to satellite radio, or who have listened to online audio in the past month -- the figure was two hours, 45 minutes.
For the study, Arbitron and Edison interviewed 1,857 people between January 18 and February 15. Most respondents were chosen at random from a national sample of Arbitron fall 2007 diarykeepers, with a supplemental sample from random-digit dialing.
The complete study presentation is available at www.arbitron.com.