GfK to study listening habits over summer, highlights of 2020 survey

The commercial radio industry has commissioned GfK to undertake a fourth annual summer listening survey to examine how consumers engage with media and radio over the holiday season.

The survey will cover consumers in both metropolitan and regional Australia and will look into how and why audiences stay connected over the warmer months.

“Radio plays an important role over summer and with the need to stay abreast of the bushfire season and COVID news, it will be useful to see how media habits change as the new year gets underway,” said Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer Joan Warner.

GfK’s last Radio Insights Summer Listening Report conducted in January 2020 found that 94% of Australian radio listeners agree radio is a great source of information during the summer season, and 74% said they look to radio for information during an emergency.

Summer radio listening has maintained steady reach over the past three years, with over 80% of radio listeners switching on radio the same amount or more and almost three in four radio listeners saying they are more likely to listen to media than watch it.

Young people aged 10-24 are the most engaged radio listeners in summer, as 82% are more likely to listen to media than watch it and one in five state that they listen to more radio during that time.

GfK Radio Insights is an online radio survey which provides additional perspective to the GfK Australian Radio Ratings, with a 1255 representative sample of people 10+ by age, gender, location of Australians. Survey period January 14 to January 24, 2020.