Radio listening via a 'smartphone' is becoming ever more popular, according to figures released today by the organisation that monitors radio listening behaviour in the UK.
Says RAJAR, some 20 per cent of smartphone owners – or 1.4 million people – have downloaded an application that enable them to listen to a radio service via their smartphone. The survey also reveals relatively high levels of people aged 15 and over listening to radio via the internet and also downloading a podcast: 31 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
Among the main findings of the survey:
* 31 per cent of adults have listened to the radio via the internet, with 25 per cent saying they have used a catch-up, 'listen again' service.
* 71 per cent of those 'listen again' listeners (and they listen again to an average two programmes per week) say the service has no impact on the amount of live radio they listen to.
* 15 per cent of survey respondents say they have heard of WiFi radio (a standalone radio set that connects wirelessly to the internet and is able to play any internet radio service) but only two per cent claim to own one.
* 15 per cent of the adult 15+ population have downloaded a podcast. Almost half (47 per cent) of podcast users claim to listen to podcasts at least once a week but only 25 per cent of users find the time to listen to all the podcasts they download.
* The typical podcast user subscribes to just under five podcasts, and spends about an hour per week listening to them. As in previous surveys, comedy and music remain the two favourite genres.
* 77 per cent of podcast users listen to podcasts at home, and 45 per cent listen in the car or on public transport.
* Podcasting appears to have a positive effect on radio listening, with 36 per cent of respondents saying that they now listen to radio programmes to which they did not listen previously, up from 32 per in November last year.
* 13 per cent of adults 15+ say they have listened to the radio via their mobile phone. Of those, 54 per cent select the station using specific FM preset and 14 per cent run an app for a specific radio station.
* 20 per cent of smartphone owners have downloaded a radio app and, of those, over half (53 per cent) use their radio apps at least once a week.
