Listening to Radio Stations Online Tripled Since 1998

  • by August 29, 2000
By Anya Khait

The number of Americans who have listened to radio stations online has tripled from 6% of Americans in 1998 to 20% in July 2000 according to a new Arbitron/Edison Media Research Internet Study.

When listening to Internet-only audio channels is added to those who have listened to radio stations online, one quarter of all Americans have listened to Internet audio, which is approximately 57 million people. 34 million Americans (15%) have viewed online video according to the new Internet study.

"Webcasting is rapidly approaching critical mass as evidenced by the growing number of people listening to audio and viewing video online," said Bill Rose, general manager and vice president, Arbitron Internet Information Services. "More and more Americans are going to the Internet for their listening and viewing and advertisers are beginning to invest their ad dollars to reach streamies who spend more time and money online."

"Audio and video make websites more interesting, appealing and sticky," said Larry Rosin, President, Edison Media Research. "In fact, three quarters of Americans surveyed agreed that websites would be more enjoyable if sound and video were included more often."

These facts are a preview of the findings in the upcoming "Arbitron/ Edison Internet V: Twenty Startling New Insights About the Internet and Streaming." The full study will be released at the National Association of Broadcasters Conference in San Francisco on September 21, 2000.

- MediaPost Staff Reporter Anya Khait can be reached at anya@mediapost.com

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