Sponsor (1964)

Buctir^tiM I STERLING, Rtnifti tween 2 and 4 p.m., a surprising 14 percent are listening alone and away from home — probably while taking a drive. (Between 3 and 4 p.m., a solid 10 percent are listening to radios in groups away from home.) Weekend radio listening doesn't reach nearly the 4 to 6 p.m. peak achieved on weekdays, however. And while 22 percent listen to radio between 6 and 7 p.m. on a weekend evening, the audience decreases consistently as the hours grow later — a clear-cut indicator of people going out for Saturday night. What strength there is is among at-home listeners who are listening alone. Importance of Radio. People in Colorado do consider radio important. And they depend on it first of all for useful information and news, whether local, state, national or global. Thus, they rate its use for entertainment as about fifth in importance. Here's a boil-down on their replies, when asked to list radio's importance: "very important," 31 percent; "fairly important," 53 percent; "relatively important," 16 percent. Listeners considering it "very important" arc, typically, older, nonclub-joining women who live in nonurban areas and are probably not in the uppermost income brackets. Many of these, of course, praise its service as a companion. The "psychological" use of radio is cited repeatedly, however, and by people in all age groups. When people arc lonely, worried, in need of consolation or merely in want of "something in the background," they seem to turn to radio. Even so, most respondents also cited their strong reliance on radio in time of crisis, usually political. For example. 39 percent of the Colorado sample turned on radios (just 17 percent turned on tv ) to get details of the Kennedy assassination. One housewife's explanation seemed typical of the many. "I heard about the President's death, hut then 1 42 Hutun Pwli tuned in my radio to see if it were really true." Radio also gave listeners tips on saving livestock during severe weather, outside news (via a portable set) when storms deprived a community of power lines, confirmation of a relative's accidental death in another town, advice on personal safety when escaped convicts were known to be in the area — all appreciated as "useful." As a result, three out of four (74 percent) of the people say they "depend" on radio either "fairly much" or a "great deal." And it appears that the more isolated people are, the more they depend upon their radios. (One respondent, who depends on radio chiefly for news, said, "two to five minutes of news on radio is equal to 45 minutes of news on tv. Radio gives the short facts and covers more items, and tv covers less and goes into detail more.") Radio was also appreciated for being accessible and thereby filling immediate needs immediately, whether for music, companionship, background fill-in, sports news or whatever. Although about half (49 percent) of the respondents listen for both music and talk, equally, a good third say they prefer music only. Women tend to prefer the musiconly program (men are more likely to be balanced programing fans), and everyone's preference for music seems to decrease as age increases. Older people (45 to 64 years old) like balanced programing, while the oldest (65 and over) are talk fans — i.e., news, discussion programs, sports. "The one consistency in music preferences," the report states, is "the inconsistency of taste." Implying that today's audiencerequirements are so broad that it takes a number of stations, collectively, to satisfy them all. the report insists, "It is sheer folly to view audiences as a monolithic mass that has one or two simply delined 'needs'."' Instead, needs varj so greatly that "no one station coul possibly meet them all." Listeners' Loyalty. Radio i Colorado enjoys a high degree c public acceptance — more tha four times the prestige granted to lc cal governments, if the Universit of Denver study is the measure: 2 percent of the people interviewe called local radio "excellent," bi only 5 percent gave the same ratin to local government. It should be noted, however, the more people — 47 percent for ra dio and 26 percent for governmer — gave them a rating of "ver good," the same designation mo; often given to local banks, news papers, utility companies and t stations. Significantly, 83 percent of th sample reported having "a favorite or "several favorite" station(s) tc wards which it feels particularl loyal. And nearly half — 42 pei cent — report being "loyal" fo five years or more. After weighing criticisms of ra dio, researchers reported that listen ers take a "rather realistic" viev of radio and show a quick under standing of the need for commer cials. As for programing, 58 per cent said they're "fairly satisfied,' 37 percent "very satisfied" and onl; 2 percent "dissatisfied." High enthusiasts were, generall speaking, women 65 or older, will some or not any college educatioi and of lower income. Low enthusi asts were men between 45 and 64 with college educations and gener ally higher income. Evaluating program quality however, listeners consider radk fare somewhat static — most fel local music shows, talk program: and even advertising remain "prett; much the same" as opposed to "bet ter" or "worse." Many, like the pas tor who said "rock and roll, lov< songs and modern-type music an suggestive." took care to criticize what they consider distasteful mu sic. however. "What the majority of listener: pleads for." the report states "are changes in presentation of pro graining, more than changes form or content." It seems that ir Colorado and especially among lis teners to smaller stations, the publii is sharpl} critical of announcer' who make mistakes, mispronounfl words or read with difficulty. ■ SPONSOR