Fresh Trends for Audio and Digtal Plaforms

I had an opportunity this morning to view and listen to the webinar presentation of the The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms. This is an annual research study conducted by Arbitron and Edison Research.

There were no great surprises in the study. Having two daugters ten and thirteen I could have told you that 73% of teens have an iPod/portable mp3 player.

The audio consumption habits of consumers is changing due to the lower cost of access to new technology and internet connectivity. With all the changes in the audio landscape, AM/FM terrestrial radio continues to have a BIG impact in people's lives.

The study also confirms what I had written in a previous post regarding the growth and future of social networking, finding that nearly one in four Americans have a personal profile on a social network like Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networks.

If you are a research and tech junkie like I am, you should take a look at the study. Arbitron and Edison did a great job of outlining everything with easy to understand graphs.

Click Here to see the complete study.

Here are the Key findings from The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms:

The weekly online radio audience increased in the past year to an estimated 33 million. Thirteen percent of the U.S. population age 12 and older have listened to online radio in the past week; up from eleven percent (approximately 29 million) in 2007. On a weekly basis, online radio reaches more than one in seven 25- to 54-year olds (15%).

AM/FM radio continues to have a big impact on people’s lives. The study asked consumers to rate the impact different digital audio platforms has on their lives. More than one in five (21 percent) consumers said radio has a big impact on their lives; ranking second only to mobile phones (33 percent) as the audio platform/device that has the biggest impact on people’s lives.

iPod/Portable MP3 player ownership continues dramatic growth. Nearly four in ten (37 percent) own an iPod or other brand of portable MP3 player; up from 30 percent in 2007 and more than two and a half times the number in 2005 (14 percent). Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of those ages 12-17 own a digital audio player.

Audio podcasting usage continues to increase along side the proliferation of iPod/MP3 player ownership. Eighteen percent have ever listened to an audio podcast; up from 13 percent in 2007. Nine percent have listened to an audio podcast in the past month (an estimated 23 million).

More than four in ten weekly online radio listeners have a profile on a social networking Web site. Those who regularly listen to online radio are much more likely to participate in social networks; 41 percent of weekly online radio listeners report having an online social networking profile (compared to 24 percent of the total 12+ population); more than one-third (37%) visit social networking sites nearly once per day or more.

The Internet is gaining on radio as the medium to learn about new music. In 2008, radio is mentioned as the medium “you turn to first to learn about new music” by about half of consumers (49 percent), with Internet at 25 percent. In 2002, radio was mentioned by nearly two-thirds of consumers (63 percent) for this perception, while only nine percent mentioned Internet.