Jacobs Media Group recently unveiled findings from its 19th annual Techsurvey focused on broadcast radio – including sports radio – in the post-pandemic era. The results of the study, which took into account information from over 430 participating radio stations and 30,000 core radio users, emphasize the importance of localized content and adaptation to reach younger listeners.

A salient assertion made by analyzing why consumers listen to broadcast radio is because it is free, a response made most frequently by those in Gen Z. In fact, there is a correlation between radio being free and the age of listeners, as the frequency of the response diminishes with greater age. The change, perhaps, can be attributed to younger consumers of media moving into an era where direct-to-consumer content is on the rise and so are their prices.

While radio being free was among the top answers in last year’s Techsurvey – accounting for 59% of responses – it is still not the No. 1 response of, “Radio is easiest to listen to in the car.” Finding and engaging with content because of specific hosts, DJs or shows was the third most frequent response.

Jacobs Media Strategies asked survey participants whether or not subscription fees for media services are becoming more of a growing concern as the landscape is altered. Seventy-one percent of respondents were in agreement with that statement, up 4.4% from last year. Millennials, Gen X and respondents classified as Boomers comprised those most in concurrence, and one-third of all total respondents to the inquiry divulged that they canceled a paid media subscription this past year.

“It turns out growing numbers of consumers are fed up with the mounting costs of subscription fees, and the difficulty they often have canceling existing deals,” said Fred Jacobs, founder and president of Jacobs Media Strategies. “The pain is being felt across demographic and socioeconomic groups, as well as listeners to a wide variety of radio formats and stations.”

The survey also found that 57% of listeners believe radio has a distinct, local edge, and 37% agree that hearing about local events is a primary reason as to why they listen. Millennials and Gen X consumers are in the strongest agreement with the advantage of radio being local, and 52% of the survey’s total respondents affirm that they feel a connection with the broadcast medium.

“We continue to see signs that connectivity and local are really big differentiators for broadcast radio,” Jacobs said. “All of those measures continue to trend up – really since COVID struck.”

From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees transitioned towards working remotely or in a hybrid format, and Techsurvey 2023 found that 36% still partially or completely work from home. In fact, 47% of sports radio listeners fall into that group, a significant finding for programmers and personalities who are working to find ways to reach an audience with decreased automobile use.