Mark Kassof: P1s Comfortable with Favorite Stations

Some 83% of P1 listeners say they are "comfortable" with the radio station to which they listen most. That's not just for one format, but as Mark Kassof and Company reports "Way More Than Music, News, Talk." In their latest data release from their recent study of P1 listeners, Mark Kassof and Company tells us they found that beyond specific programming elements, the vast majority of listeners attribute a slew of human attributes to the station they listen to most. More than three-fourths of listeners think the words "comfortable," "friendly" and "informed" describe their P1 station. These words rank at the top of 40 different words or phrases tested. Even at the bottom, around one-fourth think the words "sarcastic," "rebellious," "aggressive" and "controversial" describe their P1 station. There are some important differences among different format P1s. As an example, compared to other listeners, Christian stations' P1s find them most comfortable and friendly; News Talk stations’ P1s find them least comfortable and friendly but most aggressive and controversial; Urban stations' P1s find them most outgoing, cool, exciting, outspoken, trendy and hip. Analysis of every major format can be found here from the Kassof.com website. They emphasize that beyond how P1s perceive their stations' content and personalities, this part of the early October study sought to find out what those primary listeners think about "the station's own personality - its 'stationality'." Kassof tells us, "The most successful stations have a 'station personality' that goes beyond the basics of their programming. Understanding and shaping that 'stationality' becomes more crucial as radio is more challenged by new media." The findings are based on 732 online surveys of 18-64 year olds in the U.S. w