• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 15, 2005

Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics, said "We were surprised at how little market penetration has been achieved by satellite radio," after reviewing the results of a Media Audit survey in 87 metropolitan markets. With a collective adult population of 137,478,000, satellite radio has attracted a mostly male audience of just 681,000 or  0.5 percent of all adults in the markets surveyed.

Some of the findings of the study include:

• The demographic profile of the satellite audience is affluent and well educated
• More than 73 percent of all satellite listeners had household incomes of $50,000 or more, but that 73 percent represents only 0.8 of all households with incomes of $50,000 or more
• Approximately 63 percent of satellite listeners are men and 55 percent have at least one college degree
• 76.1 percent of all adult listeners are 35+ and 48.5 percent are 45+.
• Over 29 percent of satellite listeners fall into the proprietor/managerial classification
• 17.3 percent fit the professional/technical category

In the 87 markets surveyed, satellite radio attracted only 10,000 or more adults in just 20 of the 87 markets surveyed. The largest number attracted, 76,000 was in New York City which is a market of more than 14 million adults. Satellite only pulled one percent or more of the adults in just six markets and in no market did it attract two percent.

According to a recent Forrester Research study, says the report, satellite radio will have 20 million listeners by 2010. Jordan says "... even that number seems disappointing. News-Talk format in traditional radio that draws more than 19 million listeners just in the 87 markets covered, while Clear Channel stations in the same markets attract more than 48 million listeners..."

Jordan concludes by saying  "Satellite radio is competing with a product that is distributed free, and that's a heck of a price disadvantage."

View the complete release here.