Public Radio's Minority Audiences
			Triangulating on Today’s Minority Audiences
			Population Trends
			You Get Who You Play For
			Transcendence Is An Unmet Need, Too
			A Closer Look at Black/African American Listeners
			A Glass Half Full… And Rising

Triangulating on Today's
Minority Audiences

Measuring minority listening poses a number of challenges, as many Americans are mixtures of race, ethnicity, and cultural heritage.

No two sources agree on an exact number of minority public radio listeners. However, by triangulating on several points, we conclude that 12 to 15 percent of public radio’s listeners – about one-in-seven – claim membership in a racial or ethnic minority group.

– Jay Youngclaus
– David Giovannoni
AUDIENCE 98 Core Team

 

 

Triangulation: Point 1. "Profile 98" – published by National Public Radio^® and based on Simmons’ Spring 1998 "Study of Media and Markets" – estimates that 14.7 percent of public radio’s listeners identify themselves as something other than "White."

Triangulation: Point 2. From Arbitron's Fall 1996 survey (upon which AUDIENCE 98^® is based):

• At least 8.8 percent of all public radio listeners say they are "Black."

• At least 3.5 percent of all public radio listeners say they are "Hispanic."

Source: Public Radio Recontact Survey, starting sample.

These numbers are minimums. Arbitron measures and reports all listening by all people, but it does not ascertain every listener’s race or ethnicity. Therefore, some radio listening by Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino listeners, and all listening by Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American/Indian listeners, is recorded but simply not tagged as such.

Triangulation: Point 3. The Public Radio Recontact Survey (upon which AUDIENCE 98 is based) finds many people defined as "Black" or "Hispanic" in the Arbitron survey refine their self-identification as "Other/ Mixed." Across this wide and representative sample,

• Five percent identify themselves as "Black/African American"

• Two percent identify themselves as "Hispanic/Latino"

• Two percent identify themselves as "Asian/Pacific Islander"

• Less than one percent identify themselves as "Native American/Indian"

• Three percent identify themselves as "Other/Mixed"

Source: Public Radio Recontact Survey, responding sample.

These independent measures triangulate on a 12-to-15 percent range of public radio listeners who identify themselves as something other than "White/Caucasian."

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