How Mom, Gramma and Junior listen to radio.

Mike’s Note. These are national stats. BUT they hold true when you review not only ratings, but market research into how consumers use/consume media. Radio, especially morning radio, is holding its own. We still see good results when radio is included in a campaign, or even as a stand along tool.

New report breaks down the differences between the generations By the editors of Media Life Everyone listens to the radio. But not everyone listens in the same way. Older generations listen for a greater amount of time each week than younger ones. Yet more young people overall tune in on a weekly basis. Interestingly, no matter what their age, country is the most popular genre among listeners, a reminder that sometimes older and younger people agree on things that you wouldn’t expect. All these findings come from the latest Audio Today report from Nielsen, which examines traditional radio usage among Americans.

One interesting difference: Time spent listening. Boomers, ages 50-64, spend an average of 15 hours and 6 minutes per week with radio, more than any other age group. Generation X, those 35-49, spend 13 hours and 35 minutes, while Millennials spend the least, at 11 hours and 9 minutes. Some of these differences reflect a generational divide. Millennials are also more likely to be listening to digital audio sources, such as online radio or streaming music, which cuts into their traditional radio time. Boomers, on the other hand, have built up the radio habit over a lifetime. While some of them also listen to digital audio, it’s not quite the habit it’s become for younger people. Still, Millennials have the greatest mass of listenership. Some 66.5 million of them use the radio each week, or 92 percent of the demo. This reflects the incredibly large size of this age group, and explains in part why advertises are so eager to reach them.

Boomers have the second-largest audience, at 58 million, or 94 percent, with Gen X third at 57.4 million, though they have the largest share of listeners, at 95 percent. Xers, jammed between the Millennials and Boomers, have the smallest size of all three generations. Boomers are also much more likely to listen to radio at home (34 percent) than the other two generations, which report at-home listening accounts for just 25 percent of their radio time. Again, this is due to generational differences. A lot of Millennials and Xers listen to the radio on their way to and from work, and a larger share of Boomers are retired and don’t have that chance. As for when they listen, Millennials’ most popular listening window is from 3 to 7 p.m. during the afternoon drive when they’re on their way home from work – 77 percent of this group works either part of full time. Xers, (35 – 49 yr. olds) 83 percent of whom work, are most likely to listen to radio from 6 to 10 a.m., on the way to work. Boomers, 23 percent of whom do not work, are most likely to listen mid-day, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.