Radio listening habits

90% of listeners are actually doing something else while listening to radio. Typically this will be routine tasks e.g. driving, chores, housework. This tends to bring the challenge of gaining the listener's attention.  Radio, unlike TV and press, doesn't require any commitment of time - it fits round listeners' lives. This means there are 3 crucial implications for advertising on radio:

- You have to attract the listener’s attention

- Your message is likely to be heard in a daily-life context which could be important (e.g. while driving)

- Radio advertising is much less likely to be skipped or avoided - people can’t really be bothered to change stations.

The majority of people are listening to radio on their own. Even if they are listening when other people are around, it is still very rarely a group experience: they will have their own personal experience of the output which is not shared with other people. Their inner eye, and their feelings, are doing the work.

Radio presenters actively cultivate this apparent illusion with radio – it is a core part of presenters’ training that they must learn to speak to an individual rather than an audience.

[Closer to you chart from training]

The average listener tunes in to 2.4 stations per week Increased station choice has only a minor effect - in London there are twice as many stations, but the average only rises to 2.7 stations per week beyond information.

Listeners use radio for emotional support, to keep their spirits up during routine tasks or chores. They come to rely on the station and presenters to do this for them, for many hours every week. The result is a strong relationship between listener and station - as evidenced by the phone calls, texts, emails, facebook posts and tweets they get every day.

Radio the emotional multiplier

Most listeners are doing something else, so attentiveness varies. This variation is not a conscious activity, we just pick up on stuff which is relevant, interesting, curious or different. Hence, in radio advertising, creativity is key. Zoning in and out, not zapping

Here is some more information about radio listening and the implications this has for advertising:

• The benign state of radio – radio is “a friend”
• The in car listener