Talk Radio In America: Benchmark Study Results

Conducted by The Benchmark Company, Austin, TX

Introduction

The Benchmark Company recently completed a national study of P1 talk radio listeners from across the top 125 radio markets in the U.S. This represents the third installment since 1994 of The Benchmark Company's national research series on talk radio. Interviews were conducted via telephone with a randomly selected national sample of respondents aged eighteen and above.

The issues addressed in the study were as follows:

1. Has the way in which people listen to talk radio changed?
2. Are there a number of new users of talk radio?
3. How do listeners perceive the current product of talk radio?
4. How do listeners evaluate nationally syndicated talk hosts?
5. How important is the local talk show host?
6. What are the unaided recall benchmarks for talk stations?
7. Why are people listening? Tuning out?
8. What challenges does talk radio face from Satellite and Internet?
9. What topics are listeners relating to?

Highlights of Results

Familiarity ratings of national hosts:

National Hosts Who Scored Above 20%.

1. Rush Limbaugh [94%]
2. Howard Stern [89%]
3. Bill O'Reilly [70%]
4. Michael Savage [62%]
5. Sean Hannity [61%]
6. Neal Boortz [59%]
7. Dr. Laura [57%]
8. Larry King [53%]
9. Don Imus [53%]
10. Tom Leykis [52%]
11. Mike Gallagher [50%]
12. Clark Howard [49%]
13. Glen Beck [49%]
14. Jim Rome [49%]
15. G. Gordon Liddy [38%]
16. Dr. Joy Browne [30%]
17. Art Bell [30%]
18. Dr. Dean Edell [29%]
19. Don and Mike [24%]
20. Jim Bohannon [22%]
21. Laura Ingraham [22%]
22. Alan Colmes [22%]
23. Al Franken [21%]
24. Kim Komando [20%]
25. Stephanie Miller [20%]
26. Lars Larson [20%]

Analysis: The above numbers reflect the familiarity of our survey respondents with nationally syndicated hosts. All hosts who posted a score of more than 20% familiar were included. These are aided recall scores. Aided recall is vitally important because it can drive listener selection. And there is a correlation between recall and the PR so critical to syndicated radio programs.

There's a tendency within the radio industry to think that listeners know far more than they actually do about radio, personalities, et al. The results of this study go straight to that point: these recall scores aren't as high as many broadcasters would expect. Listeners easily confuse call letters, names of talent and many times just flat out don't have the level of recall radio broadcasters wish they did.

With the exception of several hosts, there was a decline in recall from 2003. This decline could be a function of the lack of awareness discussed in the preceding paragraph. Or, it may be that there are now too many syndicated hosts for the average listener to keep track of. Indeed, we could be approaching the point where there are more national shows than the listener market can perceptually accommodate. If that's the case, branding of the national shows becomes more critical than ever for syndicators. Listener awareness and attention cannot be taken for granted.

Rush Limbaugh [94%] continues to dominate in recall, as he did in the 1994 and 2003 studies. His status as the most visible talent in talk radio appears to be secure.

Howard Stern also had a 10% jump in awareness from the last study to 89%. [He did receive an inordinate amount of publicity with his FCC issues and his move to Sirius Radio].

Bill O'Reilly also had a 5% jump to 70%. Also posting increases from 2003 were shock-jock Tom Leykis, sports talker Jim Rome, financial guru Clark Howard and Libertarian Neal Boortz.

Dr. Laura's aided recall score declined while Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Mike Gallagher, Glen Beck, and Gordon Liddy all saw declines from their scores in 2003. And conservative talker Laura Ingraham was flat at 22%. Making the list for the first time were Air America's Al Franken and liberal talker Stephanie Miller and conservative talker Lars Larson.

While Limbaugh continues to dominate, it's interesting to note that a number of other conservative hosts saw declines in their aided recall scores. These results could be due to general listener fatigue or it could be an indication, as noted earlier, that the talk host field may have become a bit too crowded.

Political Ideology of the Audience:

• Conservative 39%
• Moderate 34%
• Liberal 21%
• Depends on Issue 6%

Analysis: The number of listeners who identified themselves as conservative dropped 4% over the past three years. The moderate camp had a 5% increase while liberals stayed at about the same number. That suggests that broadcasters can't count on an unlimited supply of conservative listeners.

We caution broadcasters to beware of what we call the monolithic trap. The desire to create all-conservative stations or all-liberal stations is tempting, but millions of listeners don't fall into those categories. The talk audience does not always nicely segment into political classes. And there are many listeners of talk radio for which politics has only occasional interest.

And, political labels notwithstanding, our research suggests that talk audiences still place original talent ahead of ideology. Simply adding a conservative or liberal program based solely on ideology will not guarantee an audience.

Demographic composition of the study

• Men 54%
• Women 46%

• 18-24 3%
• 25-34 20%
• 35-44 26%
• 45-54 28%
• 55-64 19%
• 65+ 4%

Analysis: The demographics of the listening audience grew slightly younger from the 2003 study.

Status of Favorite Talk Host

• Syndicated Host 31%
• Local Host 69%

Analysis: Those listeners who identified with a local talk host jumped 8% from three years ago to 69%. Considering the overall results of our study and the decline in aided recall scores for a number of national talents, that is a BIG number.

As the industry increasingly moves toward all syndicated lineups, the listeners continue to tell us that local hosts matter greatly. These hosts are familiar with local and regional issues and can help put a unique stamp on the local station's brand. As financially tempting as it may be to field a station with an entirely syndicated lineup, programmers should weigh the unquestioned benefit of building local talent benchmarks.

This finding underscores the long-term strength and appeal of radio as a local medium. A great local talk show host could be in any market right at this moment: tending bar perhaps, or running for office, or doing stand up at the local comedy club. The message for programmers: keep your options open with regard to finding new talent.

Have you become a Regular Talk radio Listener over the past three years?

• Yes 6%
• No 94%

Analysis: Simply put: the format needs to do a better job at growing new listeners.

Every once in a rare while, talk radio gets an unprecedented opportunity. Tragic as the circumstances were, such was the case in the aftermath of 9-11. We conducted a Benchmark survey that looked at music listeners who had logged on to talk stations during the terrible week following 9-11. The majority of those new listeners could not remember what talk station they had tuned in to during that period; indeed, they could only identify it generically as "talk radio". And once the crisis mode had abated somewhat, the majority of those new cumers were gone [at least perceptually] as quickly as they had come.

Moral of the story: Never take new listeners for granted. When there is that rare event that stimulates a wave of new listening to talk radio, remind those new listeners where they are and bore the hell out of them with the call letters and dial position.

Is Your Favorite Talk Station AM or FM?

• AM 85%
• FM 15%

Analysis: Talk radio fans still spend the majority of their time on the AM dial. FM talk station preference had a modest 2% gain from our 2003 study. The content on most FM talk stations and those FM morning drive shows that are talk-exclusive simply doesn't resonate as much with listeners as they move past the 18-34 demographic While radio talk audiences are talent driven and will seek what they are interested in, regardless of band or frequency, older talk listeners appear to have found more talent and topics that appeal to them on the AM band.

However, as Satellite and Internet Radio and MP3-driven music downloads become more popular and listeners of terrestrial music stations start making choices regarding mode of delivery, the FM band may become the main repository for the talk shows that today reside on AM stations. In that case, we could see a shifting of AM programming toward specialty programs that currently make up a large share of weekend programming.

Been Listening to Talk Radio More or Less? [In past six months]

• More 14%
• The Same 61%
• Less 25%

Analysis: There was a 12% jump from 2003 in the number of respondents who said that they were listening LESS to talk radio in the past six months. This is a number that causes us concern. And the number was much larger in the group that called themselves "moderates" and among women.

We asked listeners why they were listening less. Respondents feel there are too many commercial interruptions and not enough time to here their favorite hosts. There was also a familiar theme echoed by many listeners: too much sameness on the radio. It all sounds alike. And many told us that there was no real two-way talk on the radio any more: just a lot of sermonizing and preaching to the choir.

At Benchmark, we feel that talk radio stands at a very precarious point in its history and evolution. The format, as far as many listeners see it, has fallen into two monolithic camps where the talk is almost exclusively political.

1. The conservative camp led by Limbaugh and emulated by dozens of others national hosts.
2. The liberal camp led by Air America and Al Franken.

This kind of monolithic repetition of either praising or bashing Bush can begin to tire quickly for the listener who is not strongly emotionally situated in either political camp; i.e., the moderates and independents. Many listeners also noted that there was a sameness in many of the national shows: this was underscored by the fact that several of these shows were staging or had staged rallies for the troops and devoted quite a bit of air time to that. The key for everyone in talk radio to remember is that the main mission is to first entertain the listener. And even the best-intentioned advocacy can get boring.

We also believe the reason why more listeners relate more to local hosts is because they are more likely to get some diversity in the program fare at the local level. Listeners still enjoy a political discussion but they also like a healthy dose of "water cooler" talk. Here are some examples that listeners remembered hearing.

1. The guy that was tried for murder for failure to control his pit bull.
2. The theater owner who chose not to run the Jane Fonda movie Monster-in-Law because he's still mad at Fonda for Vietnam.
3. The couple that sued a restaurant for $2.7 million because they were asked to remove their unruly children.
4. Is Middle America ready for Brokeback Mountain?
5. The city that instituted a new policy for the mandatory removal of "broken down" cars from the freeway in less than 6 minutes.
6. New book banning initiative by a local school board.

Reason for Listening Less

• Too many Interruptions 35%
• Everything sounds the same 24%
• Miss host-listener interaction 17%
• All hosts conservative 12%
• Boring topics 11%

On the Whole, Does Talk Radio Present a Balanced Point of View?

• Yes 47%
• No 45%
• Not sure 8%

Analysis: Once again as in the 2003 study, those who label themselves conservative feel that talk radio is perfectly balanced. But there was a jump among liberals and moderates and "not sures" who felt that the balance on talk radio was out of sync. This was also the case for women in the 25-54 age brackets.

We believe that a key long-term strategy for talk radio stations is to not get locked into a ideological labeling war with either formats or listeners. It's all about entertainment in the long run; not the continued appeal to any one particular political agenda.

What are the primary [unaided recall] benchmarks for talk stations?

[Response to the question: What's the first thing that comes to mind when I mention local talk station?]

• The name of a host(s) 51%
• Talk/talk radio 27%
• News/talk 11%
• Specific station slogan 5%
• Service elements 4%
• Specific talk topics 3%

Analysis: As in 2003, the most significant unaided recall benchmark for talk stations is the name of the talent [actually up 6% from 2003]. Regardless of whether the ratings methodology is a diary or a personal people meter, building benchmarks is still a huge plus for talk stations. Make sure that listeners can correctly identify the names of your hosts. Those are the building blocks for recall.

How often do you log in to a talk station's website and listen on your computer?

• Regularly 5%
• Occasionally 14%
• Not usually/never 81%

The Internet is fast reaching the point where it's beginning to encroach on terrestrial stations. This is particularly true for listeners in the under 34 age group.

How often do you go to a talk station's website for more information or downloads?

• Regularly 27%
• Occasionally 38%
• Not usually/never 35%

There's been a lot of publicity about satellite radio stations these days. If your favorite talk host went on satellite and was no longer available over commercial radio, would you pay a monthly fee of around $13 to get his/her show along with the rest of the programs from the satellite station?

• Yes 28%
• Possibly 21%
• Probably not 27%
• Definitely not 24%

Analysis: Talk radio cannot ignore the increasingly escalating role of technology. Down the road, there will be challenges from Internet radio, podcasts and satellite formats. It is incumbent on all terrestrial talk stations to create dynamic and memorable programming. There are simply going to be too many choices for listeners that are just a mouse click or keystroke away.