Online, At-Work Listening Soars

The portion of American workers who are choosing to listen to radio at work via the internet as opposed to through a traditional radio receiver grew dramatically from 2007 to 2008.

According to data from the Arbitron/Edison Media Research Internet & Multimedia series of studies, among people who are employed full or part time and listen to radio at work, the portion who listen most often to radio stations through a computer over the internet has grown from 12 percent to 20 percent in one year’s time while the portion who listen most often via a regular radio has declined from 88 percent to 80 percent.

The difference is particularly noticeable when one looks at the data sectored by education. Among college graduates who listen to the radio at work, 30 percent say they listen most often to radio stations over the internet on their computer as opposed to listening most often on regular radios. This compares to 12 percent among non-college graduates, who say they listen most often to radio stations via the internet rather than regular radios.

(For graphs of the above findings, see coverage by MarketingCharts.)

“These findings suggest that broadcasters need to think about the quality of their streams, and promote the ability to listen to radio online,” says Larry Rosin, president of Edison Media Research. “After all, on the internet, the competition is not just the other stations in town; instead the possibilities are essentially infinite.”