Podcast Startups, Listen Up! People still Fancy Audio Media

AZ Research Partners, a leading market research players in South East Asia conducted a comprehensive survey to study current trends in FM Radio Listenership across the country. Parameters for study included listenership, frequency, mediums, drivers and motivators, preferences and recall amongst others. Some of the key findings are included below.

According to the study, respondents were asked about the radio station they thought represented the essence of their city best. Radio City topped the charts in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune while Suryan FM came out in front in Chennai and Radio Mirchi in Hyderabad. The cultural essence of the city was measured using parameters like local flavor, local preferences with locally popular activations and programs.

In terms of listenership, the study concluded that Radio City topped the list with a listenership of 5.2 crore followed by Radio Mirchi and Big FM with 4 crore and 2.6 crore respectively. Love Guru (Radio City) is the most popular RJ in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore and the third most popular in Delhi. Sayema of Radio Mirchi is the most popular RJ in Delhi.

The study found that a whopping 76 percent of consumers accessed FM Radio through their mobile phones while an average of 22.5 percent of them listened to the radio while driving. Another 36 percent used the radio at home. With mobile phone penetration growing in rural India, radio as a medium of mass communication is now reaching the remotest corners of the country via the mobile phone.

The study identified a set of drivers that motivated listeners to listen to one particular type of radio channel. These motivators were centered on four parameters including the image of the radio station, the kind of programs it aired, the kind of music it played and the Radio Jockey who hosted these activations. It is seen that while 100 percent of respondents considered good music as a motivator, only 50 percent felt the image of the station and RJs impacted their listening patterns. A whopping 83 percent of respondents thought that the quality of programs aired highly impacted their frequency of listening on a particular station.