Scarborough 'Reaching the Millennials' Study: 20% of Young Listeners Are Heavy Radio Users

The majority (90%) of Heavy Radio Listeners in the U.S. are between the ages of 18 and 64, but there are noteworthy generational differences, according to a new study from Scarborough Research, presented at the Arbitron Client Conference. The study offers a break down of those listeners in three categories: Generation Y (" ages 18 to 29 -- 20% of which are heavy radio listeners); Generation X (ages 30 to 44 -- 32% of which are heavy listeners); and Baby Boomers (ages 45 to 64 -- 38% of which are heavy listeners). For the Millennials (Gen Y), 61% are heavy listeners of the Pop/CHR format, followed in popularity by Country, Rhythmic CHR, AC and Hot AC. Gen X listeners are also big on Pop/CHR, AC, Country and Hot AC, followed by Classic Rock. And Baby Boomers are listening to AC the most, followed by News/Talk, Country, Classic Hits and Classic Rock. Some 40% of Millennials said they have listened to radio online in the past 30 days, while 33 percent of Gen Xers listened online and 23 percent of Boomers did so. Podcasts are lagging a bit in popularity, as only seven percent of Gen Xers have listened to one in the past 30 days, followed by six percent of millennials and five percent of boomers. Scarborough Research also offered "A Complimentary Study on the Unique Ways Millennials Engage with Media" which examines their behavior and attitudes regarding modern media. It shows that radio listening among American adults age 21-34 has remained steady over the past 10 years. In 2001, 15 percent said they listened to news/talk/personality radio in the past week, and in 2011, the number was 14 percent. Millennials also are twice as likely as all adults to have used the Internet to download music in the past 30 days. And 26% of them visited a radio station website in the past month, while 17% listened to a local radio station online.