Should radio programmers listen to radio listeners?

[landtuna]

After the election, I saw an interview with a distraught woman who told the reporter, "I can't understand how our guy lost. Everybody in my family and my church voted for him!" When your universe is only those around you, it's possible that they all think exactly like you. But one can't extrapolate that experience beyond that circle, regardless of how convincing it all appears to be.

I agree that extrapolation isn't always necessarily accurate but from my brief conversations with the kid's peers it appears to be the case in my neighborhood if not a wider population. One of the most popular topics between the adults and kids who come to visit is music tastes so we've had quite a few casual conversations on this subject over the years. It is also surprising to me the interest the younger kids take in my music library which goes back to the 50's and has many artists the kids have only read about.

 

[TheBigA]

I agree that extrapolation isn't always necessarily accurate but from my brief conversations with the kid's peers it appears to be the case in my neighborhood if not a wider population.

One popular way of marketing to people is by their zip codes. You can tell a lot about a person by where they live. That includes radio usage.