FM/AM Radio Still Leads the Listening Pack:

INSIDE RADIO
January 14, 2015

There is fresh research showing radio continues to hold onto its primary place in Americans’ listening lives. A survey conducted by Morgan Stanley found 86% of those surveyed said they currently listen to FM-AM radio. While slightly below the 92% reported by Nielsen, the survey puts broadcast radio well above any of the competing media outlets. Morgan Stanley says the web video site YouTube comes the closest, although its 62% reach is a fourth less than radio’s. The biggest digital music service is Pandora, but Morgan Stanley says just one-third of Americans currently use its streaming product. Television music channels ranked fourth at 27%. The iHeartRadio app and Sirius XM Radio round out the top five, with one-in-five (19%) of Americans reporting they currently use either service. The findings, first reported in Quartz, are based on just-released data from a November survey of 2,016 American adults.

Broadcast radio still has big lead on awareness. Ninety-eight percent of Americans are aware FM/AM radio exists. As hard as it is to believe that two percent of adults aren’t in the know, it’s one of the other findings in the Morgan Stanley survey. The report also shows that 90% of those surveyed know about Sirius XM Radio and 88% are familiar with Pandora.

The report also says iHeartRadio has a 73% awareness rate, with two-thirds knowledgeable of Spotify. Further back are other radio listening apps like Slacker, with one-third saying they’ve heard of the service, and Rdio, which has 30% awareness. Morgan Stanley didn’t quiz people about the TuneIn app.