MediaCT Light Bites: Radio listening is increasingly mobile
Last week RAJAR released the topline findings for the highly anticipated wave 7 of MIDAS (Measurement of Internet Delivered Audio Services). Charles Lawrie, Senior Research Executive in Ipsos MediaCT, gives us a flavour of this latest set of results.
The survey provides an insight into current internet-based radio listening behaviour whether the listening is live, time delayed (listen again), via podcasting or using personalised radio services such as Spotify or mobile phone applications.
Mobile phone listening was introduced to the survey in wave 6, since then we have seen an increase in listeners using apps from specific radio stations as well as using mobile internet connections and looking for stations using `internet radio'. All of these platforms will have had their listenership boosted from the rise in smartphone ownership. Interestingly, out of the 1 million listeners who have listened using a radio station app, almost 70% own an Apple iPhone.
From the main RAJAR survey we know that over 16 million people have ever listened to the survey using the internet (Q3 2010). Using MIDAS we can see that almost 70% of these listeners use both `Listen Live' and `Listen again' services. When looking at those who use `Listen again' services around 12% claim to listen to more live radio, which could be due to listeners finding new shows when browsing available programmes. Wi-Fi radio seems to have a relatively slow uptake, as only 2% of those aware of this service claim to own one.
With podcasting at one time being hailed as the death of radio, the MIDAS data show us that 30% of listeners now listen to radio programmes that they previously did not listen to, while three quarters claim it has no impact on their live listening habits.
This is really only a taste of the MIDAS survey but it shows that there is a healthy relationship between traditional radio and internet radio listening.
