Another nugget of data culled from the soon-to-be-released results of Techsurvey 2024 – a record number of core radio listeners are showing fatigue with fees for audio and video content.
On Thursday, April 25 Jacobs Media will present its Techsurvey 2024 results in a free webinar in partnership with Inside Radio and sponsored by Quu.
In addition to gaining insight into how radio listeners feel about AI, their thoughts on interacting with radio hosts and personalities, and how QR codes can help with marketing and promotions, this year’s Techsurvey reveals that nearly three in four (74%) concur that subscription fees for media content have grown concerning.
Jacobs Media says this is now a multi-year trend impacting many consumers’ budgets. In the 2020 survey, 62% of core radio listeners strongly agreed/agreed that subscription fees for audio and video content were concerning. In 2023, the number rose to 71%.
This year’s Techsurvey finds that 46% “strongly agree,” and 28% “agree” that they are “concerned about the growing number of subscription fees I’m paying for media content.”
While men (78%) and fans of spoken word radio (79%) are most likely to push back at the rising number of subscription services, this complaint is common to most core radio listeners. A majority of women (70%) are concerned about subscription fees and all generations from Boomers to Gen Z are above the 70% mark in expressing their concern with paying for media content.
“We’ve been tracking this for more than five years, and while many consumers depended on media subscription platforms for fresh content during COVID, we may be reaching a point where ‘free radio’ might be more appealing than ever,” notes Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs.
This year’s study yielded over 31,000 surveys among core radio listeners from 500 participating U.S. and Canadian stations. The annual Techsurvey explores broadcast radio's role in the expanding, and increasingly crowded, digital, audio, and video landscape.
Registration information for the April 25 webinar can be found HERE.