Online radio listening rising

chris

The number of people who have listened to radio over the internet has risen to 14.5 million, with 3.7 million listening to a podcast each week, according to a new survey.

The research was commissioned by radio measurement company Rajar, using a sample of 863 individuals throughout April and May.

It reveals that 9.4 million people listen to the radio via the internet every week, either live or through a 'listen again' service. This is up from 8.1 million in November 2007.

Three quarters of those who use listen again services said it had no impact on the amount of live radio to which they listen, while almost half said it encouraged them to tune into programmes to which they had not previously listened.

Podcasts

Every week, 3.7 million now listen to a podcast, up from 1.87 million. A total of 6 million people now say they have downloaded a podcast, up from 4.3 million.

The average podcast user subscribes to 3.6 programmes and spends just over an hour per week listening to them, with comedy and music continuing to be the favourite two genres.

iTunes remains the software of choice through which to subscribe to podcasts, with almost three quarters of those questioned using the service. A fifth simply download directly from the host website.

More people listen on their home computer rather than on the move, with 66% using a portable device to play their podcasts and 79% using a PC.

Podcasting appears to have had a positive effect on live radio listening, with almost 15% now tuning in to more radio since they began downloading programmes. There were 10% that said they listen less as a result and 39% drawn to new shows.

Just 31% responded positively to the idea of podcasts without adverts that had to be paid for, while 53% said they would be interested in downloading podcasts containing ads if they were free.


Source:broadcastnow

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