Public radio continues to grow.
The latest Arbitron report (for the full year 2008) shows that public radio stations increased their overall weekly reach, rising from 11.2 percent of the population in 2007 to 11.8 percent in 2008. Increases were seen in all demographics and age groups, especially among women 18-24 and 35-54.
Arbitron says the lion's share of public radio listening comes from adults 35+.
Men 55 to 65+ still are the top audience, followed by women in those same age groups.
The News/Talk format is still the most dominant, followed by News/Classical music. News/Talk gets more than half the public radio listeners around the nation.
As for public radio's share of allradio listeners, the numbers vary. The highest is 10.6 percent in the Pacific Northwest. Next are 8.3 percent in the South Atlantic, 7 percent in the East North Central, and 4.4 percent in the Mountain region, which includes New Mexico.
Showing posts with label public radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public radio. Show all posts
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
No hysteria, please
Ambulance chasing, aircraft crashes, swine flu...
We don't do hysteria at KSFR News. At least we try not to. In fact, I think we may go out of way to avoid the news items that seem to want to lead to hysteria.
When the four teens from Santa Fe were killed in a head-on collision. We didn't air the tape of the 911 call.
When the state police helicopter crashed in the mountains above Santa Fe, I thought about asking state police for the taped communications between base and copter. But I chose not to. When other outlets put the audio on their websites, morbid curiosity led me to go there and listen to them (maybe to get a new angle to cover the story?). But KSFR did not air them.
There's enough anguish in the actual fact of those types of events that would not be better served by repeating raw, emotional details -- at least not for us.
So, what about swine flu?
Each year when flu season comes along, I grit my teeth that even talking about it and promoting the fact that the flu shots are ready will add to hysteria. Of course, we'll urge people to get their flu shots. But I'll do it while also asking the question, do 30,000 Americans really did from flu each year? I've never known or heard of one. So, I challenge the state health department about their numbers all the time. Last year, they reported that in one month alone, 19 New Mexicans had died from flu and pneumonia complications. I asked: "How many did of flu by itself?" "A couple," they replied. Why lump the numbers together? To make them more compelling?
Now, we're confronted by not one but two types of flu. Will swine flu be more deadly? The hype makes it sound that way. Who will be more susceptible to it, the young and elderly or somewhere in the middle. The early evidence suggests it will be those somewhere in the middle.
And how many will die? It's always seemed like 30,000 Americans falling to seasonal flu each year is a lot, although I spoke with a statistician recently who says for a population our size, it's not many at all. If it's not many at all, why the hysteria? Many times more people die in auto crashes.
Yes, we'll report about swine flu. I'll even see how the state's emergency preparedness people are getting ready.
I just hope that whatever we report on KSFR News will contribute to education, not to hysteria.
Robin Lustig of BBC news has these thoughts about swine flu on his blog.
We don't do hysteria at KSFR News. At least we try not to. In fact, I think we may go out of way to avoid the news items that seem to want to lead to hysteria.
When the four teens from Santa Fe were killed in a head-on collision. We didn't air the tape of the 911 call.
When the state police helicopter crashed in the mountains above Santa Fe, I thought about asking state police for the taped communications between base and copter. But I chose not to. When other outlets put the audio on their websites, morbid curiosity led me to go there and listen to them (maybe to get a new angle to cover the story?). But KSFR did not air them.
There's enough anguish in the actual fact of those types of events that would not be better served by repeating raw, emotional details -- at least not for us.
So, what about swine flu?
Each year when flu season comes along, I grit my teeth that even talking about it and promoting the fact that the flu shots are ready will add to hysteria. Of course, we'll urge people to get their flu shots. But I'll do it while also asking the question, do 30,000 Americans really did from flu each year? I've never known or heard of one. So, I challenge the state health department about their numbers all the time. Last year, they reported that in one month alone, 19 New Mexicans had died from flu and pneumonia complications. I asked: "How many did of flu by itself?" "A couple," they replied. Why lump the numbers together? To make them more compelling?
Now, we're confronted by not one but two types of flu. Will swine flu be more deadly? The hype makes it sound that way. Who will be more susceptible to it, the young and elderly or somewhere in the middle. The early evidence suggests it will be those somewhere in the middle.
And how many will die? It's always seemed like 30,000 Americans falling to seasonal flu each year is a lot, although I spoke with a statistician recently who says for a population our size, it's not many at all. If it's not many at all, why the hysteria? Many times more people die in auto crashes.
Yes, we'll report about swine flu. I'll even see how the state's emergency preparedness people are getting ready.
I just hope that whatever we report on KSFR News will contribute to education, not to hysteria.
Robin Lustig of BBC news has these thoughts about swine flu on his blog.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Pub radio listeners
Been away for awhile, but a new study caught my attention.
What technologies are public radio listeners using, or drifting to?
The upshot is that more than three-quarters of 30,000 listeners surveyed showed they still like and use the old fashioned radio.
But the study commissioned by the Public Radio Program Directors Association shows some other trends:
-- Listening to streaming radio is growng
-- Cell phones are ubiquitous, and the iPhone is owned by half of them
-- Satellite radio has not made much headway, with only 12 percent saying they have one.
-- Only 3% own an HD radio. As for very likely, somewhat likely or not likely to buy one, they were split almost evenly in thirds.
The point about cell phones and iPhones is an important one and should cause more programmers, especially news directors, to push their audio out to these phones.
What technologies are public radio listeners using, or drifting to?
The upshot is that more than three-quarters of 30,000 listeners surveyed showed they still like and use the old fashioned radio.
But the study commissioned by the Public Radio Program Directors Association shows some other trends:
-- Listening to streaming radio is growng
-- Cell phones are ubiquitous, and the iPhone is owned by half of them
-- Satellite radio has not made much headway, with only 12 percent saying they have one.
-- Only 3% own an HD radio. As for very likely, somewhat likely or not likely to buy one, they were split almost evenly in thirds.
The point about cell phones and iPhones is an important one and should cause more programmers, especially news directors, to push their audio out to these phones.
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