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Bridge Ratings Youth Audience Tracking Study 2005

For Immediate Release:

Monday, August 29, 2005

Youths Spending More Time Away from Radio

Bridge Ratings & Research recently concluded the first phase of its study on the media habits of 15-24 year olds and has confirmed initial perceptions that young people are spending less time listening to the radio as a result of using the Internet.

The study conducted during the second quarter of 2005 and completed June 20th, 2005 and updated on August 20 found that 20% of 15-24 year olds are listening to less radio as a result of their time on the Internet, while over two-thirds (67%) are spending the same amount of time. The 20% number is actually down from two months ago.

Other findings of the study include: a third of those questioned are spending less time reading books and newspapers, opting to consume their information over the Internet.

The study also found that young people are spending almost a third of their total media time (32%) online, more than watching television (30%), listening to the radio (27%) and reading magazines or newspapers (11%). In comparison, the average U.S. citizen spends, 22% of their media activity with the Internet.

The study revealed that music dominates online activity for this age group with the Internet providing a cheaper and more convenient means of purchasing and downloading tracks. 27% of 15-24 year olds are now buying music online compared to 18% one year ago. 38% of this age group still visit and purchase traditional brick and mortar music stores, up from 31% a year ago.

Almost half of those questioned (47%) are prepared to pay for music download services, 49% prefer free downloads and 56% of youths in this age group listen to music online or through a digital music player (MP3) device now instead of elsewhere.

Gaming is also a popular online activity for this group. A quarter (24%) are willing to pay for online gaming services, 33% prefer sharing free games and 42% had visited a games web site within the past 7 days.

More than half (58%) spend time using on-line instant messaging applications to communicate with friends over the Internet. More than a third (38%) admit to talking less on the phone now that they are online.

The study used a sample of 2800 people aged 15-24 years in Dallas, Washington, DC, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland (OR) and St. Louis (MO).

Youth Audience Erosion to New Media

Youth 15-24 Years Daily Time Spent with Media (Hrs:Mins)
	TV	Radio	Internet	Magazines	Telephone	Newspapers
2005	2:15	1:52	2:25	:46	1:13	:15
2004	2:44	2:10	2:05	:50	1:02	:17

Youth 15-24 Years % of Total Media Time
	TV	Radio	Internet	Magazines	Newspapers
2005	30%	27%	32%	8%	3%
2004	34%	30%	22%	8%	6%

Youth 15-24 Years Music Consumption Sources (% Using)
	Online Download	Radio	MP3 Players	Online Streaming	Brick & Mortar Stores
2005	27%	94%	37.6%	18.4%	38%
2004	17%	96%	22.3%	9.7%	31%

Data released June 20, 2005

"Regarding the following media, are you spending More, The Same or Less time with each than you were 6 months ago?"
Media	More	Same	Less
TV	15%	63%	22%
Internet	52%	41%	7%
MP3 Players	68%	27%	5%
Radio	11%	67%	22%

Data released August 20, 2005

"Regarding the following media, are you spending More, The Same or Less time with each than you were 6 months ago?"
Media	More	Same	Less
TV	17%	63%	20%
Internet	55%	38%	7%
MP3 Players	73%	22%	5%
Radio	13%	67%	20%

For additional information, contact Dave Van Dyke at 818.291.6420.

Bridge Ratings is a ratings and research company based in Glendale, California. We are dedicated to providing on-going, immediate, reliable, useable and affordable audience measurement services for the radio industry. Our methodology is based on sound consumer research principles. We are in the business of tracking listeners - not listening. Because we are a true research company we offer flexibility

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