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More On Radio
Where do you listen to KXEL, or the radio generally? Lots of folks have traditionally listened while in the car; in bigger cities, during COVID, many radio stations lost ratings and listeners because those folks were working from home with no commute time…time they would have spent listening to the radio.
For these purposes, when I say “radio” I mean radio as opposed to talk or music coming from streaming audio services, like websites and the like.
A new study shows that among American adults, those age 18 and older, 88 percent listen to AM or FM radio while in the car, with only 12 percent listening to streaming audio. Given how easy it is these days to plug smartphones and other devices into your car speakers, many analysts figured that number would have been higher.
Even outside the car, radio dominates…64 percent listen to AM/FM radio outside the car…roughly half that number, 36 percent, listen to streaming audio.
Obviously, I’m biased because I work in radio, and without you listening…well, there’s no point to it.
But in a broader public policy context, we’ve been telling you for a few months that manufacturers of electric vehicles, or EVs, are trying to get away without having AM radios in those vehicles…there are some issues with electrical static, so instead of putting in the necessary filters, they’re just getting rid of the radio. Earlier this month, Ford disclosed it was looking to phase out AM radio, as well.
You could chalk this up to AM being the “old school” form of radio, and that FM is more popular these days.
But think a little more deeply. What is the most dominant form of programming on AM? Spoken word, or talk radio. And what is the most dominant form of talk programming? From a political standpoint, it’s programming with a conservative viewpoint.
So is it purely coincidence that there’s a move on multiple fronts to get rid of AM radios in the car…when AM is the way many conservative citizens hear about issues? And when so many still rely on radio in the car, as this new survey shows.
I’ll let you connect the dots.
