Survey Shows Gen-Z Not Listening To Radio

[Miss Tuned]

My wife and I have taken to setting the DVR even for things we intend to watch live. If we're a minute or two or more late getting to the TV, we'll just punch "play" on the DVR menu---it will continue to record while we're watching from the beginning. Same basic principle.

My satellite TV doesn't have any recording functionality, but if you get to it mid-way through a show and you want to watch from the start, there's a "watch from start" option on the program guide. All it does is connect to the relevant broadcaster's streaming service (BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, etc) and play the program. It works on all the major broadcasters (i.e. all the ones you'd actually want to watch, not the infomercials, Godcasters or Turkish news stations). This stuff is all getting very integrated now - I don't have a particularly new or fancy TV.

 

[DOB]

I didn't say I knew a lot of Black people. Quit putting words in my mouth. As far as the wife comment - I was just giving an example of how much race doesn't matter to me. Since we've never met how would you like me to express that?

And I also did not say "music performed by African-American artists" was thuggery. I specifically confined my comments to rap (which I do not consider music in any form) and knowing I may be unintentionally condemning a little sliver of "good rap" I stand by my comment. Rap is nothing more than hate messages for youths.

Which brings to mind a question: If there is such a thing as "good" rap, positive vs negative, why is it never played on the various CCM outlets?

Neither did I tell anyone not to listen to whatever they like. I simply gave my reasons for not listening to it.

As for Country, I criticized the current music and not its listeners.

How would I? I've never been a "street" person or hung out with them. I don't speak their language nor observe their customs nor have their rage or lack of responsibility. I've spent my entire adult life on my career and raising my family. I just became an empty nester less than one year ago so now I have the time to spend in frivolous discussions with my peers about all manner of subjects. However, it is obviously a waste of time trying multiple attempts to get someone to understand.

Since you obviously continue to weaponize discussions with me I am blocking you and not respond any further. We have nothing more to discuss.

You're going to be what they want you to be. I know, you think that there is a level of common decency where you can explain to them who you really are but they don't care.
Millions are programmed to be Great Society divide and conquer warriors. Wish them the best, pray for them if that's your thing, but don't take anything personally from those who exist to destroy individualism.
At least they are not desecrating your art and telling everyone who you are and what you think by regurgitating lies.
Music taste is subjective so enjoy what you love, but I have had a relationship with hip hop my whole life, at a time when I had only one friend who loved it too, Aerosmith and Run DMC fixed that later, it has been more than music for me as I have bonded and created incredible relationships through my love.
Hip hop like country and folk is story teller music. Music about the human experience, so you have lyrics that cover the whole spectrum of good and bad, innocent and repulsive, positive and negative.
Music is just a reflection of the times and it just tells the story from the perspective of that artist and their journey.
God bless! You seem like a good person with integrity.

 

[radiofan2023]

I think the BBC might struggle with that idea. Everything the BBC puts out on-air on any of its radio stations, whether a documentary, music show, news or anything else, is automatically made available for on-demand listening via BBC Sounds, which is also where you go if you want to stream any of its radio stations. The stations don't even have websites any more, just pages on BBC Sounds. The live streams can be played with, too - you want to hear a song again, or missed a bit of an interview? Just go back a few minutes and hear it again.

If you listen to any BBC radio nowadays, there is very little mention of FM frequencies or live broadcasts, it's very much "on BBC Sounds" all the time. For instance, this recent TV promo for the Gen-Z-targeted BBC Radio 1, which doesn't mention the national FM transmitter network at 97-99 MHz, or even DAB radio, but is just "listen on Sounds".

You can see from the tone and type of content on Sounds (mindfulness playlists, Pride mixes etc) that they are targeting a younger audience who may well no longer even own a radio.

I was listening to a programme on BBC Radio Scotland recently, and the host said they’re not supposed to mention mediumwave (AM) or FM on air.

 

[michael hagerty]

She's been blowing past all kinds of Billboard chart records (some dating back 50 years or more), and I can't figure out why!

Herb Alpert seems to have it figured out:

Dear Taylor Swift Taylor Swift ties Herb Alpert's 4 albums in the Top 10!! #herbalpert #HerbAlpertandTheTijuanaBrass #HerbAlpertTJB #TJB #TijuanaBrass... | By Herb Alpert | Facebook

Dear Taylor Swift Taylor Swift ties Herb Alpert's 4 albums in the Top 10!! #herbalpert #HerbAlpertandTheTijuanaBrass #HerbAlpertTJB #TJB #TijuanaBrass...

fb.watch

 

[davideduardo]

So a lot of what people default to (Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Vietnam, social unrest, flower power, Woodstock) as Boomer stuff is actually anywhere between "yeah, I remember, but it wasn't anything I was involved in" to "before my time" for half---the larger half---of that generation.

I was born 5 days into the Boomer era. And on December 5, 1964, three weeks before the Boomer age ended, I put on the air my first radio station. So maybe I am the first Boomer to own and operate a real, major market radio station?

 

[michael hagerty]

I was born 5 days into the Boomer era. And on December 5, 1964, three weeks before the Boomer age ended, I put on the air my first radio station. So maybe I am the first Boomer to own and operate a real, major market radio station?

If there were others, David, it would be a very short list.

 

[CTListener]

I was listening to a programme on BBC Radio Scotland recently, and the host said they’re not supposed to mention mediumwave (AM) or FM on air.

That's an odd thing for a program(me) host to say on air! Was that host taking calls or answering emails/texts from listeners, or just offering a little peek into the BBC's priorities, perhaps as a subtle protest?

 

[radiofan2023]

That's an odd thing for a program(me) host to say on air! Was that host taking calls or answering emails/texts from listeners, or just offering a little peek into the BBC's priorities, perhaps as a subtle protest?

They started to introduce the show, saying it could be heard on BBC Sounds, on mediumwave and FM, then realized they weren’t supposed to mention mediumwave and FM and said that. Then they talked to their producer and said there was nothing said about mentioning only the frequencies by number, so they said they’d just do that in the future.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

And---this is a new observation, just for this post---what we're up to now has very little in common. The generation itself spans such a vast period of time (1946-1964). From my seat in pretty much the middle, the oldest ones are ten years older than I am and the youngest are eight years younger. 77, 67 and 59 are very different ages.

I’m the bottom end of X, my sibling at the very beginning of it. Night and day differences with little in common. Different stages of life, different experiences that shaped some of our younger years. Different tastes in pretty much every form of entertainment. I’ve observed something similar among other similarly situated pairs.

Broad brushes have their place when talking about generations, and somehow or another quantifying is going to happen…but the broad brush also often misses nuances and the lines are not nearly so neat as they’re portrayed.

 

[CTListener]

I’m the bottom end of X, my sibling at the very beginning of it. Night and day differences with little in common. Different stages of life, different experiences that shaped some of our younger years. Different tastes in pretty much every form of entertainment. I’ve observed something similar among other similarly situated pairs.

Broad brushes have their place when talking about generations, and somehow or another quantifying is going to happen…but the broad brush also often misses nuances and the lines are not nearly so neat as they’re portrayed.

I'm 1955 (mid-boom), my brother's 1965 (cusp). Entirely different influences in the years that formed our politics, musical tastes, and just about everything else.

 

[Miss Tuned]

They started to introduce the show, saying it could be heard on BBC Sounds, on mediumwave and FM, then realized they weren’t supposed to mention mediumwave and FM and said that. Then they talked to their producer and said there was nothing said about mentioning only the frequencies by number, so they said they’d just do that in the future.

If they're broadcasting this type of scintillating stuff, I'm very surprised that their ratings are in the toilet. How can people possibly tune out when this is the level of witty repartee being emitted?

 

[radiofan2023]

If they're broadcasting this type of scintillating stuff, I'm very surprised that their ratings are in the toilet. How can people possibly tune out when this is the level of witty repartee being emitted?

Are their ratings public or not? I’m also surprised that so many older people listen to BBC Radio Scotland, a lot of the emails and tweets I’ve heard are from people in their 50s-70s.

 

[Miss Tuned]

Are their ratings public or not?

All the UK ratings are public at rajar.radiotoday.co.uk - they aren't directly comparable to US ratings.

 

[radiofan2023]

Thanks

 

[davideduardo]

All the UK ratings are public at rajar.radiotoday.co.uk - they aren't directly comparable to US ratings.

% Reach is US Cume Share.
% Share is US share.
Reach is total station cume in US.

 

[DOB]

Ok then……..

How can you not love this site? Tell me that stuff like that doesn't at least put a smirk on your face if you can hold back a little laugh?
They are like little hidden gems in these threads and they are priceless in enhancing your own understanding of historical context.

 

[Kelly A]

They are like little hidden gems in these threads and they are priceless in enhancing your own understanding of historical context.

But only if you're interested in something between 1950 and 1990. Time seems to have ended here by 1991.

 

[michael hagerty]

History and context in most things rarely go back just 32 years. Especially in a medium that's 100+ years old.

If anyone has more recent meaningful and relevant history and context, they're welcome to share it.

 

[Kelly A]

History and context in most things rarely go back just 32 years. Especially in a medium that's 100+ years old.

If anyone has more recent meaningful and relevant history and context, they're welcome to share it.

It seems like history to some is only within the context of their impressionable youth. That's undoubtedly why we see so many comments related to radio or media that include when Boomers were actively using radio for news and entertainment.

 

[vchimpanzee]

In fact, if I were to identify with any generation, it would be the Boomers, despite being almost 30 years younger than the youngest, because I feel like I have more in common with them than anyone else, and I'm more interested in that generation's culture, music and technology.

In other words, I feel like I was born 40 years late....

c

I am a Boomer (born 3 years before the end of that generation) but I don't really identify with my generation's music either.

I did like the softer music when I was a teenager (James Taylor, Carpenters, Anne Murray, John Denver, Barry Manilow, Barbra Streisand, etc.). Also some disco. There weren't radio stations playing older songs, but when there were once I went to college, I liked them.