Key radio listening locations are changing, and fast. That’s the assessment from the latest Jacobs Media Techsurvey.
Detroit-based Jacobs Media Strategies asked more than 51,000 respondents about their listening habits to determine how listening trends are being impacted by new distribution outlets and emerging technology.
The result: Traditional patterns of media usage and radio listening are changing across radio formats and age ranges. The 2017 Techsurvey 13 was conducted across six weeks in January and February 2007.
The goal of the survey, Jacobs Media said, is to suss out patterns of consumption and offer radio broadcasters new information from which they can set better understand the marketplace and set new strategies.
Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey13 organized its results in two different pyramids: A Media Pyramid that contains broad categories such as smartphone and tablet ownership, audio and video streaming interest and usage of companion listening devices like Amazon Echo; and a Brand Platform Pyramid that provided usage information as it relates to brands such as Snapchat, Netflix, TuneIn and Shazam.
For years, the Techsurvey was focused on radio listenership in the car — and for good reason, said Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs.
“But as time goes on, radios are disappearing from the home front, and being replaced in many cases by smart TVs, wireless audio systems and ‘smart speakers’ like Amazon Echo and Google Home.” For example, this year the so-called Alexa Factor is having an impact on listening habits, he said.
Jacobs Media released a snapshot of its survey results on May 4, and plans to release a full report later this year.
In Part II of this multipart series, Radio World will look at the results gleaned from the survey’s Media Pyramid.
