Importance of Radio in America

Americans rate the importance and relevance of local commercial radio very highly, despite the entry of high-technology competition, a national survey commissioned by American Media Services shows. The survey found that 78% said radio is important in their everyday lives, and 91% said radio is important in American life in general. Nearly three-quarters (74%) said they listen to radio at least once a day.

Other Findings of the Survey Include:

• 78% usually tune to a local radio station when they get in their car.
• More people had a favorite local radio personality in their local markets (37%) than a favorite television personality percent (32%), newspaper personality (7%) or personality on a local internet site (1%).
• When asked what are the different qualities that make a good radio personality, they ranked four as most important: 89% said they liked to listen to someone who makes them think, 82% said one who makes them laugh, 79% wanted a personality they could trust, and 76% said a good radio personality has strong ties to the local community.
• Overall, 41% of respondents said they liked to listen to stations that have a good balance of music, news, weather and traffic information. That rated above playing their kind of music (26%) or making them laugh (3%).
• Of those respondents who had a "favorite media personality," 37% said their favorite personality worked on the radio, while 32% said their favorite worked on television.