NIELSEN OBSERVES HOW AMERICANS USE AUDIO, INCLUDING STREAMING, FOR NEW STUDY

The study offers some interesting demographic info on those subjects who listen to “digital audio streamed on a desktop or laptop computer” (which would include, though not be limited to, Internet radio… but does not include mobile phone listening): those with incomes above $100,000 were most likely to listen to streamed audio (16.3%). Streaming audio had its highest reach among 35-54-year-olds (13.5%), and among those with two or more children in the home (13.2%).

Getting down to more specifics: while streaming audio only reached 9.3% of study subjects on a daily basis (accounting for less than 7% of all audio media exposure throughout the day), those who did listen spent an average of 67 minutes per day listening. And while Internet radio listening has largely been considered an at-work phenomenon, the study says streaming audio reached less than 3% of all study participants at work. However, those listening at work averaged 105 minutes per day. So, it seems audio consumers are less likely to listen to streaming audio at work than in general, but those that do listen for longer periods of time (see chart). This results in a pretty even split of overall streamed audio listening between home (52.7%) and work (48.8%).

In the study, consumers were physically observed consuming media throughout the day (during Spring and Fall 2008 in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Seattle). You can read a summary of the study and compare the streaming audio numbers to other forms of audio media here and get the full report here.

Jennifer Lane, in Audio4Cast here helpfully points out that streaming audio listening does not include “mobile audio.” Adding in listening on mobile devices, Internet radio’s reach may be as high as 11% (note chart). Also, Matt Rosoff at CNet helpfully points out (here), “The study had a small sample size — 300 people in only five cities. It didn’t try to adjust for demographic differences between the sample audience and the population at large. And it didn’t measure the type of audio content being consumed. So while we know that nearly 80* of U.S. adults listen to the radio, it’s harder to know how many are listening to music.”

CONCLAVE WEBINAR TO FEATURE KURT HANSON NEXT WEEK

The Conclave Webinar is co-sponsored by Envision Radio Networks, and will be hosted by 106-5 The Arch/St. Louis air talent and current Conclave Board member Jay Philpott. The webinar is free, but pre-registration is required here.

WIRED: YOUR NEXT CAR DASHBOARD WILL CONNECT YOU TO THE “CLOUD”

While still a prototype, ng Connect believes to have such technology available in as little as 2 years. “The losers in all of this: satellite navigation and radio,” observes Wired’s Elliot Van Buskirk. “They appear to have about three years, tops, before personalized applications and cloud computing make them look as outdated as black-and-white television.” ng Connect also hopes the technology will be affordable to non-luxury car buyers — relying on the cloud could help bring down costs. Read more from Wired here.

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