HBG Media Minute: Do Radio Listeners Watch the News? (And how?)
In a recent nationwide study, we at Harker Bos Group asked over 900 radio listeners whether they watch the news and how they watch the news. The results demonstrate that a diverse array of news delivery technologies are used to consume video news, as well as emergent trends such as the increasing primacy of streaming over cable. We also observe the growing market saturation of YouTube in the news media realm among radio listeners.
Let’s dive in…
71% of radio listeners watch the news.
Graph (below): Do you watch the news?
Of those radio listeners that watch the news, 73% do so via streaming, beating out cable by a considerable 16 points. In fact, video clips on social media (59%) are a more popular method to consume the news than cable/satellite 57%. We should note that YouTube has gained such prominence in our media ecosystem that we differentiate it as a discreet option from that of ‘social media’ in our surveys. A solid 39% of radio listeners who watch the news do so on YouTube, alone. This translates to 28% of all radio listeners watching news on YouTube.
Graph (below): How do you watch the news?
Continuing down the YouTube rabbit hole, we find that 59% of those that watch news content on YouTube are subscribed to a local TV news affiliate. In broad terms, this equates to 17% of all radio listeners subscribing to a local news affiliate on YouTube. In other words, nearly a fifth of radio listeners are subscribed to a local news affiliate on YouTube.
Graph (below): Are you subscribed to your local TV news affiliate on YouTube?
This wraps up this week’s Media Minute, brought to you by the fine folks at Harker Bos Group. We hope you find some practical value with the information provided above, and look forward to sharing more insights and findings in the near future!
Thanks for reading!
-Sean Bos
Study Profile:
Ages 18+
National study of markets around the US
Conducted in October 2023
900+ Radio Listeners