• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 11, 2007

The world may be digital, but radio has yet to catch up. Online listening for AM/FM stations remains low, according to Arbitron's analysis of its fall 2006 radio audience data. Such listening represents less than 1% of total quarter hours in the 30 markets where it was analyzed.

While the proportion of AM/FM stations specifically identified as the source of online radio listening increased, giving a slight boost to individual station ratings, the low overall total may temper earlier optimism about the rate of adoption for online radio generally.

In Arbitron's 30-market survey drawing on fall 2006 data, diary keepers recorded 20,331 unweighted quarter hours of Internet radio listening attributed to a specific AM/FM radio station. That figure is up dramatically from 4,684 in spring 2006. However, the increase was mostly due to revised reporting instructions issued by Arbitron for the later reporting period.

Interestingly, most Internet listening for AM/FM stations came from older males, contradicting the image of early adopters of Internet media as younger men. Arbitron found that 78% of Internet listeners also listened to the same station's regular broadcasts on a traditional radio set.