Survey Results: Community radio listeners dropped in 2014

The number of Australianstuning in to community radio dropped in 2014.

27% of Australianradio listeners Australians aged 15+ years, or 4,797,000 people, listened to community radio each week in 2014. That'sdown 403,000 listeners from 2013 when 5.2m and anaverage of 29% of all radio listeners tuned in each week.

That’s according to the latest Community Radio National Listener Survey for 2014, which was released today by Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA).The survey found listeners spend an average of 17 hours tuning in each week and that community stations air more than 2,000 hours of Australian music per day.

Unsurprisingly, 33% of listeners aged 15 – 24 years gave Australia’s largest independent media sector’s support of Australian music as the reason they tuned in. 39% of all music broadcast on community radio is Australian.

According tothe Community Radio Codes on Australian music, commercial broadcasters arerequired to play “not less than 25%” of Australian music.CBAA Chief Executive OfficerJon Bisset told TMN community radio has similar quota requirements to commercial radio for Australian music airplay.

"Supporting local arts and music is part of our DNA – it’s at the core of what we do," Bisset told TMN. "So community radio always goes so far above and beyond that bare minimum. This makes community radio a great place to discover new local artists for interested listeners."

40% of listeners based in metropolitan areas gave specialist music programs as their motivator for listening.

Australia-wide 54% of weekly listeners are men, 46% are women,28% fall into the 25-39 age group and 53% stream radio online. Interestingly, 55% of weekly listeners identified themselves as Christian, with 30% saying they had no religious beliefs.

Metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas have the same level of listening, and the Northern Territory has the most community radio listeners per capita.

“The sector continues to provide a high level of local content and a unique range of services and programs," said Bisset. "Through these, it contributes to media diversity, promotes social inclusion and provides a diverse range of viewpoints that enrich the social and cultural fabric of Australian society”.

The survey was undertaken using a representative sample of 10,000 Australians over the age of 15, across all Australian states and territories.