Younger Listeners May Never Return To Broadcast Radio

This should come as no surprise but "…Radio’s tendency to ignore the very young and very old (those over 50 are the largest audience for satellite radio) may already have doomed it with the coming generation for whom radio is like the phonograph," according to Seattle publication The Stranger. "According to Jerry Del Colliano, professor of music industry at USC’s Thornton School of Music, the Internet’s interactivity (think MySpace and instant messaging) is far more integral to this new generation’s identity than cold media like television or radio…"

"’Do [you expect young listeners to] give up these virtual communities, this back-and-forth communication, for radio — [which] you can’t program and you can’t get what you want, when you want it (a hallmark of this generation)?’ [asks Del Colliano.]

"A study commissioned by USC found that 85% of those aged 12–24 preferred MP3s to terrestrial radio, though at least half listen to Internet radio, and a third of those spend at least an hour a day listening…"

And portable streams via wi-fi and cell phones are just starting to becoming a reality…

Read the full article here.