Arbitron says data from its September 2012 national radio listening report shows radio’s audience increased slightly year over year by 249,000 persons age 12 and older, or nearly 93% of the population.
Arbitron’s RADAR, which stands for Radio’s All Dimension Audience Research, measures 47 radio networks operated by American Urban Radio Networks, Crystal Media Networks, Cumulus Media Networks, Dial Global Inc., Premiere Radio Networks, and United Stations Radio Networks. The report includes data from all 48 Arbitron Portable People meter markets.
Young radio listeners were largely responsible for the year-over-year increase, with adults age 18 to 34 showing the largest gain in weekly listeners, adding more than 800,000. Persons age 12 to 17 increased slightly also, according to the highlights.
Adults age 18 to 49 as well as 25–54s showed year over year declines in weekly radio listening, largely due to shifts in the composition of the population versus last year. Radio attracts 126 million adults age 18 to 49 and 119.6 million adults aged 25 to 54 on a weekly basis, according to the data.
Radio’s diverse listener base saw a jump in the September 2012 compared to the September 2011 study. The number of Hispanic weekly radio listeners saw increases across most demographic segments.
Radio’s Hispanic audience aged 12 and older grew by more than 2.5 million versus the September 2011 report. Radio reaches nearly 95% of Hispanics aged 12 and older.
Hispanic Teens aged 12 to 17 showed an impressive increase over the past year, rising by more than 300,000 weekly listeners.
