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Radio World

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Annual TechSurvey Findings Released

Posted: 11 May 2022 01:24 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/programming-and-sales/annual-techsurvey-findings-released


Jacobs Media released details of its TechSurvey 2022 this week and it shows
the number of radio listeners is still ticking down and is lowest among
younger generations, but that’s nothing new. We also learn aging radio diehards are paying more attention to on-air personalities and hosts, long
a hallmark of local radio. 

The 18th annual web survey tracks listening habits and how radio listeners interact with the mediascape away from the radio, according to Fred Jacobs, president of Jacobs Media. The population spread of this year’s TechSurvey crew is 48% men and 52% female and leans a bit older with the biggest group 55-64 representing 36% of respondents.

Jacobs reviewed TechSurvey 2022 findings during a webinar on Tuesday, which shows an overall increase media usage.  

The annual project, which measures the amount of change in the tech space
and its impact on radio broadcasters, surveys engaged radio listeners throughout the United States from more than 470 participating stations with some 31,000 respondents. Interviews took place in January and February of
this year, according to Jacobs Media. 

TechSurvey participants are core radio listeners, Jacobs said, generally
with names taken from radio station listener databases. The web survey
results parse media usage and tech trends, which is compiled from
participating radio stations in a variety of formats. All responses are collected online and weighted using Nielsen 2021 market population data.

AM/FM listening on average is slowly trending down, according to TS 2022.
The percent of people who listen to AM/FM radio on any kind of device for
one hour or more each weekday stands at 86% in the most recent survey.
That’s a dip from 88% in 2021 and 90% in 2020.

Jacobs said perhaps a more significant number is the 9% of respondents who
say they listen to radio less than an hour a day and the 5% who listen to
no radio whatsoever.  

“So that’s 14% total listening to less than an hour of radio a day. And remember these are core radio listeners, but they are in fact gravitating
away from radio,” he said. “That’s a concern when those core radio listeners are moving away from radio slowly but surely. And this is more significant obviously in younger generations.” 

The generational listening breakdown shows the shriveling of levels from
older to younger with 89% of Baby Boomers listening to radio an hour or
more each weekday. But that percentage dips to only 73% for Gen Z.


The number of listeners with radios in the home continues to be flat,
according to TS 2022. Now eight in 10 listeners have a regular radio in
their home, but that has remained fairly consistent the past several
surveys, Jacobs said. Men are more likely than women to own a radio in the
home while Millennials are least likely.

“So roughly a fifth of the sample does not have a regular radio in the
home. And that is why streaming on a variety of devices become so
critically important to the broadcast radio industry,” Jacobs said.     


TS 2022 also looked at why people still listen to AM/FM radio and the
result reflects the wide variety of reasons why they tune in. The main
drivers of why people listen include the ease of listening to the radio in
the car (65%) and personalities/DJ (62%). Jacobs said during his
presentation emotional triggers are significant reasons why people listen.

“Emotional reasons to listen include habit, connection, and companionship. All of those things play major roles on how people listen to the radio,” Jacobs said.



This is the first in a series of stories examining the results from
TechSurvey 2022. Come back tomorrow for more.


Randy J. Stine has spent the past 40 years working in audio production and broadcast radio news. He joined Radio World in 1997 and covers new
technology and regulatory issues. He has a B.A. in journalism from Michigan State University.

The post Annual TechSurvey Findings Released appeared first on Radio World.


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FCC Trying to Visualize New and Improved EAS

Posted: 11 May 2022 12:45 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/fcc-trying-to-visualize-new-and-improved-eas


The National Association of Broadcasters believes many of the pieces needed
to improve emergency alerting in the United States are already in place and
no major overhaul of existing EAS is needed.

The FCC’s pursuit of ways to improve the utility of EAS to more effectively reach larger segments of the population, especially persons who are deaf or hard of hearing with more visual alerts, has generated many responses from legacy EAS stakeholders. 

The FCC’s EAS Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in 2021 was part of a broader rulemaking proposal seeking ways to modify the text associated with
national EAS messages, including pre-stored templates for NPT messages. It
also proposed requiring “triggered” CAP polling by broadcasters.

“NAB agrees with the majority of commenters that, instead of undertaking a complex redesign of the entire legacy EAS system, the FCC should promote broader use of IP-based Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) EAS alerting, and
its superior accessibility capabilities, while preserving the legacy EAS
system as a vital back-up to ensure EAS continuity when IP networks are disrupted,” NAB said in comments to the FCC.

Polling is an “automatic seek and fetch of the CAP message when the
broadcast EAS version is received first,” as described in the FCC proposal. The proposed changes would require radio stations to monitor web-delivered companion alerts. However, requiring stations to poll the CAP EAS server
does raise the issue of delays while the CAP message is polled, including timeouts of alerts and message duplication errors, according to some EAS observers.

NAB and others have urged the FCC to encourage, but not mandate EAS participants transition to using CAP as the primary vehicle for most alerts.

Only an emergency management, law enforcement or public safety agency has access to CAP programs to originate EAS activations, according to the FCC.

[Related: FCC Addresses Wireless Emergency Alerts]

The NOI asked whether it would make sense to use legacy EAS only for the Emergency Action Notification (EAN) and NPT and require use of CAP for all other alerts. In addition, it asked if legacy EAS can’t be reasonably modified to allow alert originators to distribute text to transcribe a two-minute audio message, whether the legacy EAS architecture should be redesigned altogether.

The redesigning of legacy EAS could carry substantial costs, NAB wrote the
FCC, and it remains adamant about not inflicting additional costs upon broadcasters who are required to carry presidential alerts.  

“Changing the legacy system could also decrease its compatibility with the universe of existing EAS receivers in the field. EAS participants would
have to upgrade their EAS devices, and in some cases, replace their
existing equipment at considerable cost,” NAB said. 

A full redesign of EAS to provide all the capabilities of CAP alerting
could be risky, NAB says, for doing so could make the legacy systems less robust by increasing the amount of data that must be transmitted through
long distance radio links. That can be negatively affected by the
increasing noise floor, NAB said.

In addition, the “millions” of individuals and entities that use National Weather Radio receivers to monitor weather and alert products would be
impacted because such radios rely on the legacy EAS protocol, NAB told the FCC.  

NAB concludes its most recent comments: “Accordingly, NAB supports the FCC’s goals in the NOI to further consider ways to improve the
accessibility of EAS, however, we support a more practical approach focused
on promoting broader, primary use of CAP alerting, while preserving the
legacy EAS system as a redundant, more resilient pathway when internet connectivity is disrupted.”


Randy J. Stine has spent the past 40 years working in audio production and broadcast radio news. He joined Radio World in 1997 and covers new
technology and regulatory issues. He has a B.A. in journalism from Michigan State University.

The post FCC Trying to Visualize New and Improved EAS appeared first on
Radio World.


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Edison Research Announces Top 50 U.S. Podcasts

Posted: 11 May 2022 12:18 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/programming-and-sales/edison-research-announces-top-50-u-s-podcasts


Edison Research has released its comprehensive list of the top podcasts in
the U.S. based on audience size for Q1 2022.

The U.S. Top 50 Podcast chart ranks the 50 biggest podcasts via the
measurement service Edison Podcast Metrics. Measurements are based on
actual podcast listening, not downloads, and do not require an opt-in from podcast networks, according to the company.

Participants indicate which podcasts they listened to in the past week
along with a variety of demographic, psychographic, and purchase behavior information., said Edison in a company press release.

Survey results are then coded, analyzed and eventually calculated to be expressed as the percentage of weekly podcast listeners reached by that network.

The top 10 shows based on measurement from Q2 2021 – Q1 2022 are as follows:

The Joe Rogan Experience 
Crime Junkie
 The Daily
This American Life
 My Favorite Murder (up from #6 in Q4 2021)
 Stuff You Should Know
 Office Ladies
 Dateline NBC (enters the top 10)
 The Ben Shapiro Show (enters the top 10)
 Call Her Daddy


Much like it did in Q4 of 2021, The Joe Rogan Experience, a long-form
interview and conversation podcast run by comedian Joe Rogan, continues to
sit at the top of the list. Crime Junkie claims the #2 seat, moving up from
its spot as #3 in Q4 2021.

Edison Research Director of Research Gabriel Soto said, “Despite a
turbulent and controversial ride for Joe Rogan at the beginning of the
quarter, his show not only remains the most popular in the U.S., but it has increased in listenership – distancing itself from the number two spot.

Other top 10 changes include My Favorite Murder, which is up from #6 in Q4 2021, as well as Dateline NBC and The Ben Shapiro Show, both of which
entered the top 10 this year.

The top-50 list was compiled by Edison after gathering 8,000 online
interviews with weekly podcast consumers in the U.S. aged 18 and older.

The full list is below.


For information about Edison Podcast Metrics contact Edison Research SVP Melissa Kiesche at mkiesche@edisonresearch.com. 

The post Edison Research Announces Top 50 U.S. Podcasts appeared first on
Radio World.


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Shortwave Revival a Non-Starter? The Authors Respond

Posted: 11 May 2022 09:36 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/shortwave-revival-a-non-starter-the-authors-respond


Radio World’s “Guest Commentaries” section provides a platform for industry
thought leaders and other readers to share their perspective on radio news, technological trends and more. If you’d like to contribute a commentary, or reply to an already published piece, send a submission to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The following commentary is by Keith Perron, formerly of Radio Netherlands, Radio Canada International, and BBC World Service and Daniel Robinson,
former chief White House correspondent at Voice of America.

Our joint article Why Reviving Shortwave is a Non-Starter stirred up quite
a bit of controversy, so we would like to offer this response, with
specific focus on the questions of DRM, and address criticisms from members
of the shortwave hobbyist community.

DRM consortium chairwoman Ruxandra Obreja described our suggestion that international broadcasters use crises such as Ukraine to attract additional funding as “exaggerated.

Yet, from a budgetary standpoint, there has not been a single global crisis these organizations have allowed to go to waste, so were not sure why
critics take umbrage.

Obreja acknowledges that former dependence on shortwave as a key
information source gave way to internet and mobile, but asserts that there
are “still many shortwave hobbyists, She cites a BBC-supplied estimate of 30-40 million shortwave listeners in Africa alone.

This is to be expected from anyone used to reflexively accepting official statistics. But its a fact that key funding sources, such as the British government and U.S. Congress, rarely demand detailed answers as to how such figures are arrived at.

On this subject, we would point readers to the following articles via the
USC Center on Public Diplomacy and BBG – USAGM Watch.

One of the most significant quotes there (by Kim Elliott) had to do with
the role that figures for China played in one USAGM global audience
increase claim: The 6.2 percent increase claimed by the agency in China “beggars belief and indeed is not to be believed.”

Obreja, who worked for BBCs Romanian service in the 1980s, offers a
familiar defense of DRM, asserting that DRM-capable transmitters acquired
by some countries can provide “enormous benefits” in information-deprived areas.

But the ongoing question remains – where are the receivers? DRM radios for personal use have been mostly of poor quality and not available in large numbers. The jumble of claims by the DRM consortium and manufacturers have never really been subjected to any aggressive investigation.

Brazils broadcasting authority gave a green light to DRM in 2017. But as of April/May 2022, the DRM Consortium broadcast schedule showed Brazil and
South Africa having halted DRM tests.

In 2021 the South African government gave permission for DRM and DAB+.
Since then, DAB+ has moved forward. DRM stalled with only one small station
in Johannesburg that also used DAB+. Reports indicate that there are still
no DRM receivers available.

New Zealand used DRM as a cheaper alternative to satellite for program
feeds to Pacific island nations, but is now at only 3 hours of daily, down
from 18.

As for USAGM use of DRM for Radio Marti from Greenville, this in no way
proves that DRM can somehow achieve widespread use in Cuba. Reports are
that the experiment had more to do with a desire among VOAs technical staff
to conduct a fun experiment.

Aside from China, Romania has the most test broadcasts. But a sampling of these, using various Kiwi SDR sites, showed numerous signal dropouts,
making sustained listening quite annoying.

SONY pulled out of the DRM consortium years ago. Sangean is not a member. Tecsun halted development of a DRM receiver a receiver by Titus promised
with great fanfare became vaporware.

BBC, USAGM, All India Radio, Radio Republik Indonesia, Voice of Nigeria,
Radio Netherlands Worldwide (re-branded as a “digital media organization”) and HCJB are listed as “full” or “associate” members.  But Indonesia has
zero hours of tests, HCJB zero, Nigeria only 5. One has to wonder.

As an observer commented in 2017 on the SWLing.com website: “DRM was an interesting technical development. . .the potential was there for it to be
the next big thing — but that was 10+ years ago. It failed to capitalize on that and take off, so now it’s nothing more than a technical curio.”

The same observer noted: (1) a history [of] announcements of radios that
never saw daylight (2) almost zero receiver availability and poor quality
and (3) questionable behavior [by] the DRM Consortium” [inflating] the significance of every purchase/installation of a DRM-capable mediumwave transmitter regardless of actual use.

Another observer noted that DRM missed the boat in the United Kingdom where
DAB and 5G dominate, adding that “DRM [became] a ‘curio’ that radio amateurs and hobby and pirate broadcasters can experiment with. . .”

As of end of April 2022 the DRM section of the Gospell website showed no receivers. A Gospell Facebook page displayed only a GR-216 dating from
2020.  A YouTube video showed a GR-220P, but an email from a Gospell rep
said the model is unavailable.

The private seller Tecsun/Australia carries only a TRA Q-3061 (actually a Gospell GR-216) at $500 Australian dollars which still works out to over
$400 U.S. with shipping.

Assertions by Obreja in a follow-up article such as “there are digital shortwave receivers available . . .” and “technology already exists for affordable DRM receivers [but] manufacturers are simply awaiting bulk
orders” are fine generalities, but we have heard these statements for years.

[Related: An Argument for Shortwave Radio, Its Benefits in Times of Crisis]

Predictably, our article sparked new debate in online hobbyist discussion forums, notably from Sheldon Harvey of the Canadian International DX Club.

Harvey conflates DXers and SWLs with actual listeners and proposes some interesting ways to measure, such as what the Chinese are “doing” along with the number of radios on eBay and numbers of people in Facebook groups devoted to shortwave.

First, there has been no “upswing in production” which for companies like Tecsun is dictated not by profit or alleged numbers of listeners, but
national five-year economic plans.

Harvey suggests a parallel between ongoing shortwave broadcasts by China
and audience levels.  Here are some facts:

Why does China have so many shortwave hours? Officials at various state
media all need to show the central leadership that they are employing a
certain number of people and exceeding BBC, VOA, etc. in broadcast hours in order to maintain budgets and obtain increases. So, if the BBC had 10 hours
a week, China will put 15 hours a week on-air.
Chinas Communist Party Central Committee and lower officials are interested
in propaganda value derived by funding shortwave output.  Each year, the
CRI chief would tell members that it had more than 300 million listeners a week.  In 2004, a study group was formed, and an eventual 283-page report estimated weekly audience at between 15 million and 20 million a week. CRIs leadership was not entirely surprised. But, when it came time to what was reported to the Central Committee, CRI continued to claim 300 million
because they knew this would not be checked. CRI got a budget increase to expand in: Dutch, Hebrew, Icelandic, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, and
Albanian, not exactly information-deprived areas.
What about domestic broadcasters in China using shortwave? Again, its all
about budget and ability to score points with Beijing. When submitting
annual reports, propaganda is as priceless as the ability to claim numbers
of hours of jamming to demonstrate that China’s enemies have been prevented from misinforming the population.
CRI has long had a service targeting Taiwan — the China Radio International Taiwan Province Language Service, in Hakka and Taiwanese, active for more
than 40 years on 5 to 6 shortwave frequencies. But in Taiwan, no one had
heard of it.  Yet, every five years, this section got a 10% budget
increase. At one meeting between the CRI Audience Research Department and a representative of China National Radio an official said that English
received over 30,000 letters and emails a year.  Later, this official acknowledged that it was more like 300 in a year, counting spam and junk
mail and multiplying by three.


[Related: Why Reviving Shortwave is a Non-Starter” Sure Got Our Readers Started!]

As for any connection between continuing expenditures by USAGM and BBC, and
an alleged huge usefulness of shortwave, the degree to which hard-earned citizen’s cash is “wasted” is a good topic because the American public does
remain largely ignorant about how their dollars are spent.

Will the Ukraine/Russia situation bring about anything more than a
temporary revival of shortwave? We dont think so — and, in more recent comments, key thought leaders in the shortwave hobby agree.

There has been increased attention to shortwave. Ukraine brought private
U.S. shortwave stations a lot of positive publicity, including those
beaming religion to Ukraine and Russia. But we will not see any sustained resurgence to levels existing during the Cold War and, when the Ukraine
crisis calms, in whatever way that happens, shortwave will continue its
slow slide into the history books.

The post Shortwave Revival a Non-Starter? The Authors Respond appeared
first on Radio World.

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