• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 4, 2008

College graduates ages 25-54 listen to radio significantly less than their counterparts without college degrees, according to Larry Rosin, the founder and president of Edison Media Research.

Rosin first reported his findings in a column in Radio & Records, a trade publication. Rosin, who noticed the disparity while working with political polling results, didn't draw any immediate conclusions from the data, but said the radio business needs to discuss the possible significance of the trend.

Based on Arbitron's paper diary ratings from spring 2007, Rosin found that weekly listening among the 25-54, non-college grads was 21 hours and 15 minutes; for college grads, it was just 15 hours and 45 minutes--a difference of 5 and a half hours, or 26% less than the non-college total.

The difference became even more pronounced when Rosin examined ratings from Arbitron's new Portable People Meter in Houston: The more precise electronic measurement found non-college grads on average listened to 22 hours and 45 minutes per week, while college grads listened to just 14 hours and 30 minutes--a difference of 8 hours and 15 minutes, or 32% less than the non-college total.

Rosin said his study did not address the reasons for these disparities, and said he could think of a number of plausible--but completely speculative--explanations. "There are some jobs that can only be done by college grads, and many of these jobs don't leave much time for listening to the radio," he suggested--such as teachers and doctors.

Although the reasons for the disparity remain unclear, on the surface, it seems that it could be bad news for radio. College grads tend to have higher incomes than non-college grads. Census data from 2004 found that adults 18 and older with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $51,554, versus $28,645 for those with just a high-school diploma--a category that includes people with some college education but no degree.

Meanwhile, electronic measurement by PPM means that media buyers may soon turn a more critical eye to the demographic makeup of radio audiences.