99% Of Diary Entries Still Contain NO Internet Radio Listening

Arbitron's Friday press release says that less than 1% of in-tab diaries continue to contain listening to Internet radio.

Two years ago, a 30-market Fall, 2006 analysis found that diarykeepers that record Internet radio tended to be older, male and non-ethnic. Diarykeepers also tended to identify an AM/FM station listened to online by its call letters, more so than frequency. 66% of diarykeepers who recorded AM/FM Internet radio listening identified a local station. Of those diarykeepers, 78% recorded listening to the station online as well as over-the-air. The most commonly used term to identify online listening was "Internet." Diarykeepers also used terms such as: .com, .org, .edu, online and streaming.

Arbitron records Internet radio listening to an AM/FM station only if a station is 100% simulcast (including commercials and PSA's). If a station is not 100% simulcast, the listening is included in Persons Using Radio (PUR) but the station does not receive credit.

If you haven't done so yet, contact your ARB rep and get the latest internet listening report for your market. If more than 1% of your total station's total quarter hours come from your streaming, DO NOT STOP STREAMING. BUT, do reassess the verbiage you use to tell your listeners about it. Consider the phrase: 'turn your at work computer into an FM radio..' or something similar. The day will come when you'll be able to sell that streaming audience for enough money to make it worth showing it off on its own, but that day is not today with 45% now streaming our audio, but 8 out of 10 of us still unable to honestly call our streams a simulcast. (The study update just released is based on the returned Spring 2007 SIPs: 45% of AM/FM stations indicated streaming. 20% of AM/FM stations reported 100% simulcast streaming.)

Also just out from ARB, two (pdf) reports which were distributed or presented at the NAB Convention in Charlotte: "Planning And Buying Radio Adertising in a PPM World" and "P-1's In The PPM World: Insights Into The Listeners Who Matter Most."