Study: Stern Factor Overrated: Radio Listening Stabilizing

Despite recent media attention about Howard Stern’s widely publicized transfer to satellite radio, a survey indicates a large majority of Americans, 86% are not likely to consider the purchase of satellite radio in the future because of his move.
That’s according to data gathered by Roper for American Media Services, which commissioned the survey.
Broken down further, 69% of those responding said they were “not at all likely” to consider purchasing satellite, and 17% said they were “not very likely” to after Stern’s move.
When told they would need to pay for the service and purchase a satellite radio, 82% said such a purchase was unlikely, with 64% of those saying they were “not at all likely,” and 18% responding “not very likely.”
“We have long suspected that all the national media interest in Stern and satellite radio did not reflect what was going on with the American consumer,” said AMS President/CEO Ed Seeger.
Another finding in the survey was that almost two-thirds of those surveyed – 64% – responded that they are listening to radio more, or about the same amount of time, as they were five years ago.
Seeger noted that the AMS findings are supported by another survey released in January by the Center for Media Research that found conventional radio listenership beginning to stabilize. “This supporting finding is a result of radio owners’ decisions to lower commercial loads and concentrate on content. We believe that there are compelling numbers in these results that indicate radio will continue to be a strong contender for consumers’ attention.”
Roper queried 1,008 adults in the survey earlier this month.