Arbitron: 3 Things You Should Know About Country Radio

Jon Miller

This week is the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, and Arbitron’s Programming Services Team will be there.

On Thursday Jon Miller, Director of Programming Services leads the panel on “The Special PPM Report: The Country Radio Audience”. In advance of that, Miller digged into the Radio Today 2012 study to find a few interesting facts about the format and its national audience of 66 million weekly listeners.

1)         Country is enjoying record listening levels.

Across America, the format is at an all-time high with a 14.1 share of total (12+) listening. This means Country added nearly a full share point (0.8 to be exact) over the last year nationwide. That not only makes Country the most listened to format in America, but the total share is the highest recorded number for any format since Arbitron began tracking national format performance years ago.

2)         Country is the most widely programmed music format.

According to our database, there are currently 1,857 rated AM, FM, HD radio, and streamed Country stations. That’s more than any other music format, and Country radio reaches a collective audience of 66 million 12+ listeners every week.

3)         Country’s appeal is widespread.

The Country audience is spread across all ages and both genders. The format ranks number 1 in total ratings in every demographic except teens 12-17 and adults over the age of 55 (where it ranks second). And, the listeners are almost evenly split between men and women, with a slight edge to the ladies who make up 52% of the audience.

Arbitron clients can find even more information in the full Radio Today report by going here.