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The Impact of Mobile
Listening on Radio
By Glenda Shrader Bos
The Radio Station: Chapter 1
The growing use of smartphones like the iPhone will have a
profound impact on radio use. Mobile phones with radio apps
means that one day nearly everyone will have a radio with
them at all times.
Theoretically, this should increase radio consumption, but
research suggests that the increased accessibility of radio
may not have the positive impact that one might expect.
In 2010 when most Internet radio listening was done on a
desktop computer, Pandora’s average time spent listening was
nearly one hour. By 2012, more than 70% of Pandora’s
listening was done on a mobile device, and average time
spent listening had plunged to 46 minutes.
Broadcast groups have seen a similar decline in listening
spans as more listening is done on smartphones.
The growing use of smartphones combined with multitasking is fragmenting
listening into smaller and smaller periods of time, which then depresses
ratings, and therefore how much a radio station can charge for a
commercial.
Lower rates lead to lower income for a station. As a result, programming
budgets are reduced. This could ultimately lead to lower quality
programming.
