New Scarborough research shows what the company calls "heavy" users of radio are significantly more likely to use the Internet as a source for entertainment than Americans who listen to less radio.
Fully 40% of adults qualify as "heavy" radio users (though not surprisingly, it's a little "top heavy": 36 million Boomers, 30 million Gen-Xers, and 19 million Millennials). In that group, 62% of Millennials (18-29) and half of Gen X (30-44) say the Internet is their main source of entertainment.
A third of Gen X has listened to Internet radio in the past month (nearly a quarter of Baby Boomers (45-64), and 40% of the youngest set -- see the chart).
Gary Meo, SVP/Print and Digital Media Services, presented the study called "Inside the Minds of Radio’s Heavy Listeners" yesterday, the opending day of the Arbitron 2012 Client Conference. Meo also talked about how vital social media is -- especially to the 18-29 demo.
"The importance of social networking to Millennials cannot be overstated…it is their #1 activity online, by far," he said (as reported by Tom Taylor here). The research reveals 84% of Millennials regularly use the Internet for "social networking". It was also significant for a number of Gen Xers (75%) and even Boomers (56%).
Download Meo's slide deck from Scarborough here.
Monday night former Wall Street analyst and now Kleiner Perkins venture capital partner Mary Meeker presented her latest report at an entrepreneurship event at Stanford.
Broadcasters aren't required to pay royalties to the owners of sound recording copyrights for on-air play -- but do pay owners and performers for online plays. The music industry has long bemoaned radio's sound performance royalty exemption.
Reese responded by saying he would look for more deals in the marketplace that would get copyright owners paid. He was nearly certainly referring to arrangements that Clear Channel has struck this year with copyright owners like Big Machine Label Group, Glassnote Entertainment Group, and Naxos.
We're happy to announce our second-annual RAIN Summit Europe industry event, May 23 in gorgeous Brussels, Belgium. We'll gather with Internet radio leaders from across Europe and around the world at the Hotel Bloom for a full day of informative panels, presentations and networking.
