Charlie Cook On Air: Country P1s Still Lagging

Arbitron and Edison Research have been measuring radio users since 1998, attempting to gauge the impact of digital platforms on consumer behavior. Today I will update you on the Country format P1s. These notes are based on 223 Country format P1s. The term P1 refers to first preference listeners. These 223 indicated their first preference radio station was a Country station.
Sixty-seven percent of all radio listeners have access to a Wi-Fi Network setup, but the Country P1s lag that number a bit. Only 63 percent CP1 (Country P1s) have this access. This impacts usage of services like Pandora and Spotify. This also impacts the amount of online listening done by CP1. Still, 26 percent reported listening online (to both their AM/FM station and online only services) in the last week. The overall radio listener reported 33 percent.
Pandora recently changed their model in the last two months. This study was fielded in January and February, so there could be a slight adjustment in their usage, but overall 20 percent of the study respondents have listened to the service in the last week. Only 16 percent of the CP1 has done so. I would like to believe this reflects a satisfaction with their local Country radio station but overall online access most likely has a bigger role in this than anything.
It is not as though the CP1 are not aware of Pandora and other online services. Over 60 percent are aware of Pandora, 47 percent are aware of iHeartRadio (higher than the overall radio user, which tells me the Clear Channel Country stations are doing a good job of selling the service to their listeners), and almost 20 percent know about Spotify.
YouTube is becoming one of the most popular on-demand services online. Thirty-seven percent of the overall radio listeners have watched YouTube in the last week.
By just looking around you’ll notice people never get too far from their cell phones. If you see someone panicking they are probably more than 10 feet from their phone. This is consistent with CP1. More than half of those listeners are tethered to their phone and 30 percent sleep with their phones. Seriously, because 30 percent wake up to their phone as an alarm.
The Country core is way behind the general radio user in owning a Smartphone, 53 percent to 42 percent. This may be the reason CP1 are behind in online services. I use my Smartphone for almost everything in audio and video. About a quarter of the CP1 own a tablet but as more and more people move from laptops to tablets we will certainly see this number increase and at the same time should see increased audio and video services.
Country fans have not shied away from social media services. Sixty percent have a profile on some social media platform and 23 percent report using the services/websites several times per day. CP1 Facebook users have an average of 261 friends. I wouldn’t think all of these friends are country music fans, but as a station that plays country music, if you can begin conversations about your station and the music everyday your material can spread quickly. When you think of a listener using Facebook, think of that person standing in front of 261 people.
And I stress Facebook because it is Facebook and all the rest. In fact Facebook leads by such a number that there is no real second place. When it comes to Country radio, we love to talk AM/FM. 91 percent of CP1 use AM/FM in their car and this is the highest number of any format. The general music population reports 84 percent of listeners who use AM/FM in their car, so you can see Country is much stronger than the other formats. AM/FM radio has held on to their leadership position as the number one source for new music, and 41 percent CP1 say staying up-to-date with new music is very or somewhat important. Country music programmers should be confident their listeners appreciate the job being done by AM/FM on a weekly basis.
Many stations like to stay in touch with their listeners through Email, but only 8 percent of the audience has signed up for this communication model. Stations have an opportunity here to open this to their audience.
And finally, because we’re all here to make a decent living, 61 percent of the CP1 reported they have listened to AM/FM radio before arriving at or during their last shopping visit. We know the immediacy of radio impressions pays off for the advertising clients who use enough frequency to make an impact on radio listeners.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)