Do you know a lot of people who don't listen to radio?...

[thezak]

Radio could be reconfigured better for today's market if coordinated with all related media. For example, WBZ talk shows don't need to continue to limit so much their on the air use of social media. Ever greater use of social media on the air would improve radio listening. Stores' electronics sales staff say they don't listen to radio. What do other Boston metropolitan area listeners think?... Do you know a lot of people who don't listen to radio? Many people I've encountered don't listen to radio even when encouraged, even with pointers to particular content that could interest them.

[nocomradio]

 I was raised with a radio playing almost constantly. I've always enjoyed it, and have it on most of the time day or noght and go to it more than TV. That being said, I do ask a lot of folks their opinions and thoughts and without fail I hear two things:

 1) "There isn't anything worth listening to anymore."

 2) "It is all talk and commercials."

 This is from folks ranging from 20-65-ish, so its a decent spread. More and more people I know are turning to their i-pods, cell phones, and other media for listening to what they want to hear. I don't think radio is dead, but I do think many are underserved by what is on the air now. Obviously this is just my unscientific observation, but it has the same tone almost any time I discuss it with anyone.

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

What you have asked comes up indirectly in a lot of threads.  You have singled out the basic question and asked it head-on.

Here is my observation.  Like the previous reply,  my response is not based on scientific data.

People who work in radio want it to work, need for it to work.  They get the memos and the publications that contain so-called scientific information that the radio audience is huge and loyal.  They cling to that info like a life preserver,  like a favorite doll,  like Linus and his blanket.

People who do not work in radio, particularly those who never have worked in radio, are very likely to say:  I don't listen.  I quit listening.  The talk is hateful.  The commercials are overbearing and consume way too much time.  There is nothing there I want to hear... so I don't listen.  (Some comment:  so I don't listen much.)

I keep trying to figure out:  as gregarious as I am...  when you consider how many people I engage in conversation....  How come I never meet these loyal listeners all the scientific surveys are counting?

As for the social media being mixed with broadcast content....  time will tell.  I am looking for programming that has content.  I don't care if it comes from a preparation kit subscription,  from having a good production staff, from spending time at the corner bar last night, or from the host having a very witty room mate.  Content is Content.

[BoredModerator]

I get annoyed hearing the same voices on various local stations. Clear Channel Providence is the worst. I actually like Kristin, but she is on all 3 FM CC stations in various roles. She may even be on their AM station as well (HJJ) but I do not listen. So, at the gym in the morning I use IheartRadio and tune into CC stations in other cities.

[blackgold]

Yeah, ever since Coast 93.3 got rid of all its DJs and started airing voice tracking 24/7, it's really stunk!  And what a shock that it didn't go all Christmas music this past December!

[nocomradio]

People who work in radio want it to work, need for it to work.  They get the memos and the publications that contain so-called scientific information that the radio audience is huge and loyal.  They cling to that info like a life preserver,  like a favorite doll,  like Linus and his blanket.

  That is a very good point, and one thing I take from that as well, is that there is really only one major outlet for this information: Arbitron. It has become the go to for information. I learned long ago in my line of work, that you cannot rely on only one source of information. It is very limiting. But if you have no other formal source, you need to go out and put feet on the ground and find out just what it is that your customers want.

[BoredModerator]

Who is the other guy on with Karson & Kennedy now? I haven't listened in a while (104.1 static) and noticed their web page has another guy in the pic and this morning heard him bantering.

[thirdendorsed]

Kids are listening to relatively little radio. Even in the car, they'd rather plug in the iPod than dial around. Reason: Radio doesn't speak to them. It doesn't relate because program directors are either constrained by corporate decision makers into going off the bird or so vapid that they think every jock in every market should sound the same. A lot of the "radio needs to be local" mantra I have heard for the past 15 years has been self-serving pap from would be jocks for whom local means a guy behind the mic. But you have to justify the clutter; too many choices have emerged for clutter-free listening. Radio needs to be value-added.  You're not going to change the corporate decision-makers and their budgets, so it comes down to program directors being created. But most are not, and it starts with the senior vice presidents of programming and that ilk who are afraid to take chances. Sometimes an ounce gut instinct about a market is worth a million tons of research.

Don't show me charts and graphs that show kids listen. They don't.  I'll tell you something else you're not going to see on the charts and graphs:  Before you go blowing the 401(k) on an IPO, take note of the reality that Facebook has peaked with kids.

I say kids, but I'd be willing to wager that both trends are creeping upwards toward people born around 1980.

[CTListener]

What I find among the younger people I work with and otherwise encounter is that they hate commercials. That's the No. 1 reason they're using iPods and listening to internet radio. Satellite radio doesn't do it for these folks because they consider promos for upcoming shows and for other channels "commercials" as well. We're talking about people with mainstream tastes; most if not all of the music they like is available on AM. But they KNOW where McDonald's is, they KNOW what kind of cars GM makes, they KNOW what's available at Wal-Mart -- they don't want any "advertising" (that is, any non-music content) when they listen to music, and with iPods and internet radio, they don't have to have any.

[dumber than a box of hair]

Don't show me charts and graphs that show kids listen. They don't.

Another expert heard from.

Arbitron has proof that kids do listen.  Where's your proof they don't?  (Hint:  "All the kids I know..." doesn't count.)