Teens Tune to Radio Again…

When you program a top 40 radio station, you want the 18-34 demo, ideally stretched out all the way to age 54 but what really makes you happy is the audience you get by default - teens.  To begin with you’re playing their music in a contemporary setting.  You’re talking to them.  You’re their radio station.  So the results of the “Youth Radio & New Media” study just announced by Paragon Media Strategies bodes well for the future if you’re one of those stations…

Among the 14-24 demo studied with a sample size of 409 respondents, TSL (time spent listening to radio), is up from the first such study done one year ago.  It’s up to 37% from 28% year-to-year for radio listening of 1 to 3 hours a week.  Those listening 4 to 6 hours weekly was steady at 21% and those listening 7 to 10 hours weekly went from 8% to 12%.  In 2007, 73% of respondents listened to music from other sources - CDs, iPods, satellite radio and such more than they listen to FM radio.  This year the “other than radio source” number is down to 59%…

Granted these numbers are a mere shadow of the teen numbers we used to see over 20 years ago but it’s a good sign to see a resurgence of teens listening to terrestrial radio.  It also might prove that if you give them something to listen to, they’ll listen - CDs, iPods, satellite radio or not…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1812]  If it’s 1812 there must be a war:  The War of 1812  begins as the U.S. declares war against Great Britain.  The conflict begins over trade restrictions…
2. 1898]  Debuted on this date:  The Atlantic City Steel Pier opens…1948]  Columbia Records unveils its new long-playing 33 1/3 rpm phonograph record…
3. 1960]  Arnie charges with his army:  Arnold Palmer comes from 7 strokes down to win the U.S. Open…2000]  Tiger Woods wins the U.S. Open by 15 strokes…
4. 1961]  Curtains:  “Gunsmoke” airs for the last time on CBS Radio but the show had already moved to TV in 1955…
5. 1977]   Battling Billy:  Billy Martin  accuses Reggie Jackson of loafing in rightfield during a game against the Red Sox at Fenway.  Martin pulls him out of the game and then the fun begins.  Players and coaches have to separate the two as they fight in the Yankee dugout on live TV.  Just another day at the office for the Yankees…
6. 1979]  Pass the salt:  President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev sign the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.  They celebrate by downing Vienna sausage and cookies and wash it down with Stoly vodka…
7. 1983]  Ride Sally Ride:  Astronaut Sally K. Ride becomes our first woman in space as she and 4 other colleagues blast off aboard the space shuttle Challenger.  This is the same Challenger that will explode later in January, 1986.  Sally was not aboard that time and is now retired from the space program…
8. 1984]  Talk can be deadly:  Denver Talk Radio host Alan Berg  is shot to death outside his home.  Two white supremacists are convicted of civil rights violations in the slaying…
9. 1996]  Guilty as charged:  Richard Allen Davis  is convicted in San Jose (CA) of the 1993 kidnap-murder of 12-year old Polly Klaas…
10. 2004]  Must-not see TV:  An al-Qaida  cell in Saudi Arabia beheads American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., posting grisly photos of his severed head on the Internet.  Saudi security forces track down and kill the alleged mastermind of the kidnapping and murder…

Music Memories:

• 1979]  Number One on this date:  “Hot Stuff” - Donna Summer…1983]  “Flashdance…What a Feeling” - Irene Cara…

Commentary:

It took 22 years to happen but the city of Boston and fans of the Celtics worldwide have reason to celebrate after the Celtics crushing of the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in game 6 of the NBA playoffs.  That win gave the Celts their 17th NBA title and somewhere Red Auerbach was lighting up his stogie.  Boston now owns current championships in Baseball and Basketball and came within one play of winning another Super Bowl in football.  Congratulations to the city of champions…Long-legged musical-movie star Cyd Charisse, who passed away yesterday from a heart attack at 86 was an incredible dancer as witnessed in this video clip from “Meet Me In Las Vegas“… 

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”:

Isabella Rossellini (56), Carol Kane (56), Roger Ebert (66), Paul McCartney (66) and Lou Brock (69)…

Timeline Countdown:  3 days until summer and 17 days until July 4th…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June, 18, 2008 at 07: 10:10 p06 and is filed under Today's Post. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.