Westwood One Insights: More On Listener Wants

In this week’s Westwood One blog, attention is paid to what listeners want from AM/FM radio during these times of COVID-19. CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One surveyed 1,154 listeners March 31 through April 8, 2020, in a study that spanned the country in markets large and small.

Here are the key findings:

• 60% of heavy AM/FM radio listeners who normally work outside the home are still commuting to work. Of those who normally work outside the home, 47% are still commuting to work. Among heavy AM/FM radio listeners who usually work out of home, a whopping 60% continue to work away from home.
• Meaningful numbers of consumers are not sure how to listen to AM/FM radio on a variety of devices. One out of four smart speaker owners do not know how to listen to AM/FM radio stations on the devices. One out of five smartphone owners don’t know how to listen to AM/FM radio on their devices. 17% of those with a laptop/desktop and 26% of tablet owners don’t know how to listen to AM/FM radio stations on their devices. With more consumers at home, stations need to redouble their efforts to educate listeners on how to access AM/FM radio on all their devices.
• Localism is the number one perception associated with AM/FM radio. 27% associate AM/FM radio as the media that has the best information specific to their locale. AM/FM radio is a strong number two to television for information perceptions. Despite strong perceptions for speed and information, social media has very little trust among consumers.
• Listeners want what they like – their favorite music and funny, entertaining AM/FM radio personalities. The Coronavirus has not altered the most basic listener needs. Listeners still want stations to play their favorite music and have great personalities.
• By nearly a four to one margin, listeners say they prefer normal programming over Coronavirus updates. Among regular listeners to a variety of AM/FM radio formats, 72%-78% say they want normal programing. Listeners to Urban format stations indicate the largest desire in programming focused on Coronavirus.