Four Generations
of Listening and Giving

People of all ages listen to public radio.

Public radio’s appeal – the magnet that attracts certain types of people closely to it and repels others – is best reflected in the highly educated nature of its audience.

Education and the resources, values, and lifestyles it engenders are strongly associated with VALS™2’s Actualizers and Fulfilleds.

The intellectually peripatetic, socially liberal Actualizers and the more conservative, principle-centered Fulfilled distinguish public radio listeners from their generational cohorts.

 

Some things, like listening to music, are tied quite closely to age. For instance, the older our listeners are, the more likely they are to be listening to classical music.

Public radio broadcasts primarily on the FM band, which is where most listening by all generational cohorts happens today. As the AM medium ages it imposes an ever-finer filter on listening; younger listeners are effectively screened out of the audience.

Lifetimes of experience explain this. During the second world war AM was radio; there was no FM band to speak of until Viet Nam – the Baby Boomer’s war. The Swing generation swung to an AM groove; FM was built on the Baby Boomer’s rock & roll.

Generational differences are also apparent in listeners’ climb up the Stairway to Given.

Stairway to Given (For most-listened-to Public Radio Station)		Gen X	Baby Boom	Swing Gen	WWII Gen
	Percent of Listeners	16	45	22	17
	Percent of Listening	12	45	24	20
	Percent of Givers	9	47	23	21
	Percent of Giving	8	49	23	20
Steps 1&2 Reliance on Public Radio	Percent in Core	38	46	47	46
	Loyalty	29	36	38	40
	Years Listening to Station	5	9	12	14
	Percent with "Strong" Reliance on Public Radio	37	48	49	51
	Percent who listen both Weekdays and Weekends	42	50	58	61
	Occasions (per week)	6	7	8	7
	TSL (HR:MN per week)	6:18	8:28	9:17	9:47
Step 3 Personal Importance	Percent who agree Public Radio Station is Personally Important	87	90	91	90
	Percent with "Strong" Sense of Community	50	56	60	59
Step 4 Funding Beliefs	Percent who have Beliefs Associated with Giving to Public Radio	35	35	38	35
Step 5 Ability to Afford	Average Annual Household Income	$42,000	$76,000	$75,000	$49,000

– Jay Youngclaus
– Leslie Peters
– David Giovannoni
AUDIENCE 98 Core Team

 

Audience Research Analysis
Copyright © ARA and CPB.  All rights reserved.
Revised: September 01, 2000 12:38 PM.