Public Radio Nationwide Reports

Public Radio Nationwide Reports

You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files. Click the button for a free download.

Public Radio Nationwide Trend 2008
(11.5.08)

Public Radio Audience: Up 3% to 28.7 Million

Arbitron has delivered market-by-market detail for Spring 2008 Public Radio Nationwide. This year, there is good news for public radio, but overall radio listening continues to decline.

CPB-supported stations are reaching more Persons 12+ than ever before. Following a 3% increase in Spring 2007, the stations climbed another 3% in Spring 2008 to 28,744,600 persons in an average week.

Cume Rating for CPB-Stations barely missed exceeding the 11.3% of the US Population (excluding some unmeasured portions of Alaska plus Puerto Rico) achieved in 2003. The Spring 2008 estimate is also 11.3% -- add another decimal place and the 2003 estimate of 11.32% is just slightly higher than the 11.27% estimate for 2008.

CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-12m) have fully recovered to a 5.2% share of listening nationally. This is an all-time high AQH share percentage.

AQH Persons (think Listener-Hours) for CPB-Stations increases by 1% since Spring 2007, after the 3% growth reported last year. If there is another positive year in 2009, CPB-Stations might be able to match the peak AQH persons estimate achieved in 2003.

In the meantime, while the number of Persons 12+ residing in the Arbitron nationwide geography is still growing, up 1% in the past year, use of radio continues to decline. In 2008, 92.5% of the population tuned in radio in an average week, down from 92.6% last year. The time spent listening to radio by this cume, on average, was just under 18 hours per week, roughly 45 minutes less than a year ago.

Public Radio Nationwide Trend 2007
(10.26.07)

Public Radio Audience: Up 3% to 27.9 Million

There is positive news for public radio in the Spring 2007 Public Radio Nationwide report; however, it comes along with a dose of reality regarding overall radio usage.

CPB-supported stations are reaching more Persons 12+ than ever before. After a small increase in 2006, the stations climbed another 3% in Spring 2007 to 27,963,300 persons in an average week.

Cume Rating for CPB stations has recovered some to 11.1% of the US Population (excluding some unmeasured portions of Alaska plus Puerto Rico). The greatest penetration reported was 11.3% in 2003.

CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-12m) have recovered to a 5.0% share of listening nationally. The estimate is just a fraction below the Spring 2003 share peak.

AQH Persons (think Listener-Hours) for CPB-Stations has grown 3% since Spring 2006, after three straight years of decline.

In the meantime, while the number of persons 12+ residing in the Arbitron nationwide geography is still growing, up 1% in the past year, use of radio continues to decline. In 2007, just 92.6% of the population tuned in radio in an average week. This cume's time spent listening to radio, on average, was 18.8 hours per week -- even shorter than a year ago.

As we move forward in this time of measurement transition, CPB is beginning a new initiative to Grow the Public Radio Audience. This effort is designed to chart new pathways to increase audience that will build on where we are today. Here is the link to the CPB RFP, which is the first step in this effort.

Public Radio Nationwide Trend 2006
There is one piece of good news from the Spring 2006 Public Radio Nationwide estimates that Arbitron has made available to us: Half of the missing Cume Persons for CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-Mid) from Spring 2005 have returned. (Spring 2004 is the survey period when Cume Persons peaked.) In Spring 2006, there were 27,034,300 listeners to CPB-Stations weekly.

Now for the bad news:

Growth in CPB-Station Cume from Spring 2005 to Spring 2006 fails to keep pace with the growth in the national population, as the Cume Rating for CPB-Stations declines. Since the Spring 2003 peak of 11.3%, the rating drop is a half-point to 10.8%.

AQH Persons (think Listener-Hours) for CPB-Stations decreased for the third consecutive spring survey: The loss versus a year ago is 1.4%. The estimate is now smaller than that reported in Spring 2002 (let alone the peak of Spring 2003).

At 4.8%, CPB-Stations declined in share of listening nationally for the second consecutive spring survey; the peak in Spring 2003 was 5.0%.

The attached file contains four graphs, all of which show historical data for the spring radio listening survey from 1980 through 2006.

1) Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station AQH Persons, Spring Quarter 1980-2006.
2) Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station Cume Persons, Spring Quarter 1980-2006.
3) Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station AQH Share of Listening, Spring Quarter 1980-2006.
4) Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station Cume Rating, Spring Quarter 1980-2006.

There is no question that the news about audience estimates for CPB-Stations continues to be rather grim.

Public Radio Nationwide Trend 2005
Here are estimates compiled by RRC for the Lineup of CPB-Supported Stations from Arbitron's Public Radio Nationwide report. This year we are seeing some firsts, and they are not positive ones to report.

The file contains five graphs, all of which show historical data for the spring radio listening survey from 1980 through 2005.

1. Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station Cume Persons, Spring Quarter 1980-2005.  For the first time ever, the Nationwide CPB-Station Cume audience loss year-to-year exceeded 1%.  The 1.5% drop from 2004 to 2005 surpasses the 0.9% loss recorded in 2000, the only other year when CPB-Stations, in total, have lost Cume (in RRC-recorded history).  There are a total of 26.8 million people listening to public radio on a weekly basis.
2. Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station AQH Persons, Spring Quarter 1980-2005. For the first time ever, in two successive years the AQH persons for CPB-Stations has declined.  From 2004 to 2005, the loss was 2.3%. It had been a more minimal loss of .3% from 2003 to 2004. This is also the first time the AQH persons loss year-to-year exceeded 2%.

For the first time ever, both AQH persons and Cume persons estimates for CPB-Stations have decreased in the same year.

3. Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station AQH Share of Listening, Spring Quarter 1980-2005. For the first time ever, CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-12m) declined in share of listening nationally, from 5.0% in Spring 2004 to 4.9% in Spring 2005.
4. Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ CPB-Station Cume Rating, Spring Quarter 1980-2005. For the first time ever, in two successive years, Cume Rating for CPB-Stations has shrunk.  From 2004 to 2005, the rating loss was two-tenths, matching the rating loss of 2003 to 2004. CPB-Stations' weekly reach of the population was 10.9% in Spring 2005.
5. Arbitron Nationwide M-Su 6a-Mid 12+ Persons Using Radio AQH Rating, Spring Quarter 1980-2005. This graph is representative of all listening to radio, not just CPB-Stations, and it is a gloomy statement on the condition of radio in general as the number of persons 12+ residing in the Arbitron nationwide geography continues to grow, but their use of radio continues to decline. In 2005, just 92.9% of the population tuned in radio in an average week. This Cume's time spent listening to radio, on average, was 19.3 hours per week -- a shortest-ever estimate.

Last year, even though CPB-Station AQH audience had slipped a bit, it did seem that CPB-stations were holding their own, given the performance of radio listening overall. This year, listening to CPB-Stations fell more than listening to radio declined. The stations are not holding their own. While the declines are not dramatic, the changes still show declines.

Public Radio Nationwide Hourly Trends 2005
Here are more estimates compiled by RRC for the Lineup of CPB-Supported Stations from Arbitron's Public Radio Nationwide report. These are the Hourly AQH Share Trends, otherwise known as "What percentage of the national radio listening is public radio getting on an hourly basis?"

This file contains four graphs: The first page is a graph of the Spring 2005 Hourly AQH Shares for Weekday, Saturday and Sunday. The succeeding three pages compare Spring 2005 Hourly AQH Shares for Monday-Friday, Saturday and Sunday to the Hourly AQH Shares for Spring 2003 and Spring 2001.

1. Arbitron Spring 2005 P12+ National CPB-Stations AQH Share - Weekday, Saturday and Sunday Hours. The hourly listening curves for Weekday, Saturday and Sunday on a share basis vary little from what we saw last year. You'll find the highest AQH Shares during Saturday 10 AM-11 AM, Sunday 8 AM-9AM, Saturday 9AM-10 AM and Saturday 6 PM-7 PM. The best Weekday AQH Shares can be found during 5 PM-6 PM and 6 PM-7 PM.

2. Arbitron Spring 2001 vs. 2003 vs. 2005 P12+ National CPB-Stations AQH Share - Monday-Friday Hours. Not one 2005 AQH Share estimate for a Monday-Friday hour exceeds the matching estimate reported for all CPB-Stations in Spring 2003.

3. Arbitron Spring 2001 vs. 2003 vs. 2005 P12+ National CPB-Stations AQH Share - Saturday Hours. A few Saturday hours are better in 2005 than in 2003, but not during the afternoon slump. CPB-Station share of listening during the hours of 10 AM-11AM, 11 AM-Noon and 5 PM-6 PM is greater in Spring 2005 than in Spring 2003.

4. Arbitron Spring 2001 vs. 2003 vs. 2005 P12+ National CPB-Stations AQH Share - Sunday Hours. There is a pocket of AQH Share growth in the midday and afternoon hours compared to Spring 2003, with the best increases between 11 AM and Noon and in the 3 PM to 4 PM hour.