Internet Radio: The Growth Sector in Radio Listening

Since the late 90s when the first internet streaming radio stations became available, internet radio has seen its following growing steadily, but in the last 2 years the growth has really taken off.

Consider that in 2008 just under 18% of the American population, aged 12+, had listened to Internet Radio in the last 30 days. Just one year later that figure for the USA has almost doubled to 30.2%

These are from a study released December 16 2009, by US Research Company, Bridge ratings who are specialist in new media audience measurement trends. They use rigorous random sample methodology to produce their estimates. (Source: http://www.bridgeratings.com/press.12.07.09.CompMediaUse.html)

Internet Radio listening is even further advanced in Europe. A sophisticated survey conducted by IPSOS in the UK for RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Limited) utilises their official audience measurement respondents with additional on-line sampling. The results indicate growth of "Any Listening to Radio via the Internet" in the last 30 days.

These UK figures also reveal the different types of listening that can occur on-line

Of particular interest is the delivery of personal audio services delivered on the internet. These are services such as Spotify, Last FM and Pandora. The October 2009 survey for the UK shows that Personalised Online Radio is the fastest growing internet delivered audio service, with 4.5 million people claiming they have used such service. Listening to Podcasts and to the radio via the internet (live and using Listen Again services) also continue to grow but at a reduced pace.

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