• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 25, 2001

Crisis Increases Streaming Listeners

MeasureCast, Inc., recently reported that AM News/Talk stations streaming their programs over the Internet stream more hours of coverage to larger audiences during breaking news of crises.

"The latest evidence of this trend occurred Monday, November 12 when American Airlines flight 587 crashed in New York," explained MeasureCast CEO Ed Hardy. "Many terrestrial AM News/Talk stations streaming their programs over the Internet streamed more hours that day than they did the previous Monday. We saw the same thing happen on September 11th, but those TTSL and audience size increases were more dramatic."

ABC Radio's WLS-AM in Chicago witnessed a 32% increase in total time spent listening (TTSL) compared to the previous Monday. Portland, Oregon's KOTK saw a 26% rise in TTSL.

However, MeasureCast also reported that the MeasureCast Internet Radio Listening Index, which tracks listening to streaming radio stations, dropped four percent to 315 during the week of November 5 - 11. Listening to stations measured by MeasureCast has more than tripled since January.

The MeasureCast Weekly Top 10 (Monday, November 5 - Sunday, November 11, 2001)

  +------+-----------------+-------------------+-----------+  | Rank | Station         |                   |     Total |
|      |                 |                   |      time |  |      |                 |                   |     spent |  |      |                 |                   | listening |
+------+-----------------+-------------------+-----------+  |    1 | WQXR-FM/96.3    | (New York, NY)    |   213,585 |  |    2 | jazzfm/102.2 FM | (London)          |   177,371 |  |      | & 100.4 FM
|                   |           |  |    3 | MEDIAmazing     | (Internet-only)   |   175,975 |  |    4 | KING-FM/98.1    | (Seattle, WA)     |   130,061 |  |    5 | ESPN Radio      |
|   104,812 |  |    6 | Virgin Radio/   | (London)          |    65,758 |  |      | 1215 AM & 105.8 |                   |           |  |      | FM              |                   |           |  |
7 | Radio           | (Internet-only)   |    57,593 |  |      | Margaritaville  |                   |           |  |    8 | WFXZ-FM/ 93.7   | (Wilmington, NC)  |    50,941 |  |    9 | KCRW-FM/ 89.9
| (Los Angeles, CA) |    44,939 |  |   10 | The Tom Joyner  | (Dallas/Ft.       |    41,940 |  |      | Show            | Worth, TX)        |           |
+------+-----------------+-------------------+-----------+  

Other facts for the week of November 5 - November 11:
- 82% of all listening occurred between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific.
- The peak listening hour was 8 a.m. Pacific, with 8% of the day's listening.
- 11% of the week's TTSL occurred over the weekend.
- The peak listening day was Monday Nov. 5, with 19% of all TTSL.
- The largest age group listening to Internet radio: 25-34 year-olds (29%).
- 55% of listeners were under 35; 26% were younger than 25; 8% were over 55.
- 69% of listeners were men; 31% were women.
- Top streaming nations include Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

To find out more, click here.