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Audio: Summary Findings
To a greater degree than some other media, radio seems well suited to the digital transition. Voice and music are mobile and move easily among new platforms. And audio has done better as a medium of holding its audience than some other sectors.
Traditional AM/FM radio is still the dominant way people listen, although its hold has been slipping as people tune in from computers and mobile devices and shift toward listening to what they want when they want it. As ad budgets dwindled in the recession, the ability of traditional radio to make money has been hindered but not devastated. Stations have been able to gain advertising online and through podcasts. How news will fare amid the changes remains to be seen.
Audience
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In audio platforms, AM/FM radio audiences either grew slightly or fell depending on how you count them. Arbitron reported a small rise in the audience for news and talk programs, up 2% to 48 million. But Pew Research Center survey data show small declines in the number of people who said they listened to radio news the day before (to 35% from 36%).
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Sirius XM, the satellite radio company forged in the merger of the industry’s two pioneers, expected to finish the year with 9.2% more subscribers than the two companies had the year before.
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Podcasting is growing. According to survey data from Pew Internet and American Life Project, 19% of people reported they had downloaded a podcast in 2008; up from 12% in 2006. Of the 48,903 podcasts that are tracked by podcastalley.com as of November 2008, only 1,023 are devoted to news and politics. Of the top 10 most listened-to podcasts, only 3 are categorized as news and politics.
Economics
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Traditional radio revenue was down 7% in the first nine months of 2008, compared to the same period of 2007, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. That is more than three times the 2007 drop, with both local and national advertising in decline.
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Those drops were mitigated by gains in revenue from other sources associated with radio stations, particularly Internet, billboards, concerts and other off-air sources. That income grew by 9% in the second quarter of 2008 from the same period a year before. But the vast majority, 90%, still comes from on-air revenues.
News Investment
Ownership
- While the biggest player, Clear Channel Communications, completed its sale to private equity investors in 2008, an expected surge of such deal making failed to materialize. In satellite radio, the two pioneers joined to form Sirius XM Radio, but the wilting economy soon forced them to accept a white knight investor to avoid defaulting on debt payments.
Talk Radio
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The number of radio stations that carry at least some talk shows, which includes everything from political talk to advice, grew by a third in 2008, to 2,056 from 1,370 the year before, according to Inside Radio magazine.
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Many of the leading conservative talk hosts had audience growth in 2008. Rush Limbaugh, whose average weekly audience had shrunk in 2007, rebounded to nearly its old level, according to rough projections by Talkers Magazine based on ratings data and other sources. For the year, Limbaugh reached a weekly audience of 14.25 million in 2008. Sean Hannity added almost a million listeners, hitting 13.25 million, according to the magazine.
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The news was not so good for liberals. The biggest syndicated liberal talker, Ed Schultz, was down to 3 million listeners, from 3.25 million in 2007, according to Talkers Magazine. Randi Rhodes, before losing her program, was down to 1 million, from 1.5 million.
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