Young People And The Radio
Kiss 100’s Joanna Knights investigates why younger audiences are listening to the radio more…
Radio has progressively improved over the years through many phases of development. With the digital age in full throttle, radio is a multitude of ever expanding brands, pioneering DJs and musical ideals. These factors combine to etch a distinct image of each station in people’s minds.
In an iPhone-buying, 2.0 world it may seem surprising that the humble radio, whose origins date back to 1893, should be in such rude health amongst younger audiences. And yet this is the key conclusion that we at Kiss drew from our last RAJAR results. This trend is apparent right across the UK.
The latest RAJAR results from Kiss 100 surprised many people, with just how well our 15-24 audience performed. But it wasn’t just a Kiss 100 success story. Listening among 15-24s for all stations in London has shown an impressive increase since 1999. This is part of a trend across the whole UK. So what trends are enabling the radio to connect so well with a younger audience in this digital age?
An increasing amount of time is being spent in the ‘third space’ – that arena of time between home, work and play. Long commutes to work or school, as well as evening activities, providing time that begs to be filled. Radio is constantly available through DAB, FM, DTV and the internet. Couple this with research from Mintel that shows more than a quarter of 16-19s are listening to the radio via a mobile or other wireless platforms and you can see how the third space is an opportunity for radio to connect with young people.
Younger audiences are pioneering in their constant desire to incorporate the latest technology into everyday life. New technology can feel like the key to staying on top of new music, providing people with the ability to have music at their fingertips. Kiss strives to be at the forefront of musical development, changing to meet audience demands. We were the first radio broadcaster to offer advertisers the chance to appear on a five-second “audio bumper” that runs every time a listener tunes in via the total-kiss.com home page on their iPhone.
Radio is still people’s first introduction to most music and the lines between different musical genres are now so blurred. People have been introduced to a lot of different styles of music because their favourite artists have incorporated it into their music. Extending popular brands into the digital radio arena is clearly a popular means to maintaining dominance. Creating new radio stations from brands that the listener will already know and trust – such as BBC’s 6 Music, Absolute Xtreme and Q radio – offers these brands the ability to branch out into the digital age with confidence of a ready-made audience, but with the aim to land in a new, younger audiences’ eye-line.
Andy Roberts, head of music at Kiss, said: “It’s vital for Kiss to be available on every platform to create a closer relationship with our listeners. Our website in particular is crucial. Through it we can lead listeners to other sites, videos and blogs and really help further their musical journey. Radio is still the core driver but the possibilities from that starting point are endless.”
The fact is people rarely have a quiet moment these days. Media researchers at M-Lab have found that the average Briton only enjoys 63 minutes of peace and quiet every day. And in lives that are increasingly saturated by television, radio, internet and telephone usage, 22% only have half an hour to themselves. So in this society in which every minute is up for grabs, it’s imperative to be on every platform and grabbing people’s attention, making more than background noise and trying to connect emotionally with young audiences.
With so much media vying for people’s attention, the manner in which radio wants to be part of the listeners’ life explains why young people feel connected to their stations. For 15-24s the importance of image and status among peers means that they will listen to the station that best defines them.
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