Radio's Future

Another piece of self-delusion today from Inside Radio...

Debunking the myth that Millennials don’t care for broadcast radio, a new survey finds a vast majority give FM high marks. As a top draw for music discovery, FM is something nearly every Millennials has some affection for. The survey, by Mark Kassof & Co., shows more than a third of Americans aged 13-34 “love” FM radio and another 45% “like” it.

That first sentence is highly misleading. The third sentence is the one that leaps out at me. Only 37% love radio. Those numbers are way down. Even if 45% like it, it's not a priority in their lives. As long as radio keeps patting itself on the back with studies like this instead of addressing the problem, it will slowly die. I hope this study was commisioned just so radio could show it to their advertisers, because if they really believe nothing's wrong, look out.

I have kids in that age bracket who grew up around radio, and even they don't really listen unless we have it on. None of their friends listen either. They may not mind it, and they may even enjoy it when they hear it, which is the way I read this survey, but radio is clearly not their medium.

If I were to take a realistic cup is half-full look at this study, we still have a chance to convert them as long they don't actively hate radio (about 4% or so feel that way). I'd feel better about radio's chances, however, if I saw them doing something to try.