• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 10, 2008

The number of people over the age of 12 reached by radio on an average week increased to 234 million in 2008, up from 232 million in 2007, according to the latest national listening report from Arbitron. Arbitron's report is based on surveys of a national panel of 300,000.

The data on teens was especially encouraging, as 90% of people ages 12-17 still listened to radio at least once a week. The number increases to 93% among adults ages 18-23. In another heartening result, Arbitron found that radio reaches 95% of college graduates ages 25-54 every week. Stations affiliated with networks reach 85% of college graduates ages 18-49.

On the other hand, the average amount of time spent listening to the radio is down significantly, dropping 5% from 19 hours and 32 minutes in 2007 to 18 hours and 30 minutes in 2008. The decline in average time spent listening is due, in part, to the growing popularity of MP3 players and iPods, as well as non-radio audio delivered via the Internet.

Moreover, in June, another research firm, Coleman Insights, found that daily radio listening by teenagers was on the downswing, losing share to the new media options. Specifically, Coleman found that 84% of the 14-17 cohort listen to music daily on an MP3 player, iPod or computer, versus 78% for radio.

A second Coleman study found that the 15-17 cohort favors iPods and MP3 players as primary destinations for listening to music--with 41% choosing the personal devices, compared to just 22% for FM radio.

Also, Edison Media Research found that college graduates ages 25-54 listen to radio significantly less than their counterparts without college degrees. Based on Arbitron's paper diary ratings from spring 2007, Edison 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 five-and-a-half hours, or 26% less than the non-college total.

Unfortunately, radio's reach is not translating into ad revenue growth. In the first three quarters of 2008, revenues fell 7% to $14.83 billion, compared to the same period in 2007. The decline appears to be growing steeper as the year goes on, with third-quarter revenues falling 9% to about $4.97 billion.