We have often heard that only about 20% of college students come to school with a radio. We consider this statistic when we try to grow our audience by thinking of different ways to connect with people both on and off campus. We often broadcast Live on Britton Plaza and at downtown events so we can meet people in our community and come out of the shadows of the HUB basement. NPR posted this blog today that showed a rather interesting breakdown of how teens listen to music. We are surprised and encouraged to find that 56% of teens still listen to the radio. When we looked at the data that this graph was taken from, we were even more encouraged.
Nielson has a whole report on how people discover music. So how do most people still find music? RADIO! We are pleased as punch that people still respect and use this medium. Why do people like radio? It’s free. It’s always on. You don’t have to think of what you want to listen to, you just have to know what stations give you the news, information and music that you like. Also, some stations still have real djs. Live people playing music just for you. How nice:)
We also believe that College Radio is still very important even in this world of changing media. College Radio is one of the few remaining un-commerialized forms of mass media. Our students can start broadcasting the first year they get on campus. We hope that teens (and adults) will continue enjoying and supporting College Radio. We turn 50 this year and we are planning on being around for a long, long time.
