1990 BEA Boston WFAL

8/3/2019 1990 BEA Boston WFAL

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Co nduc ting Telep hone Survey Resea rch For the

Stude nt-Ope rate d Co lleg e Rad io Sta tion

Bruce C. Klopfenstein

and

Doug las A. Ferguson

Bow ling Gree n Sta te University

Dep artme nt o f Rad io-Television-Film

Bow ling Gree n, OH 43403

(419) 372-2138 (voic e)

(419) 372-2300 (fa x)

klop fenstein@bgsuop ie (BITNET)

Pap er subm itted for presenta tion to the

NAB/ BEA Radio Only Co nferenc e

Sep tem ber 1990

Boston

Running Head: RADIO SURVEY


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Radio Survey

Abstract

Stude nt-ope rate d colleg e rad io stat ions (espe c ially a dve rtiser-supp orted ones) c an be nefit

from survey resea rc h tha t revea ls program ming p referenc es and c onsume r hab its of p otential

aud ienc es. These dat a ma y be ga thered throug h a telephone audienc e survey ad ministered

unde r the auspices of an appropriate b roa dc asting course. Broa dc ast stude nts have m uc h to ga in

from d irec t exposure to the tec hnica l aspec ts of survey resea rc h. This pape r rep orts on the c reat ion

and selec ted results of o ne suc h survey (n=522) a t a midwe ste rn university in fa ll 1989 as an exam ple

of the po ssible a pp lic ation of a pp lied resea rc h in the c olleg e rad io stat ion environm ent.


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Radio Survey

Introduction

Most c olleg e radio stat ions are not in a po sition to be nefit from com me rc ial aud ienc e

research suc h as tha t provide d by Arbitron, Birc h/ Sc arbo roug h, or c ustom m arket resea rche rs. Yet

c olleg e c om me rc ial rad io sta tions and their stude nt operators have muc h to ga in by be ing a ble to

inform their ad vertising c lients ab out t he p urc hasing, ente rta inme nt, soc ial and me dia use ha bits of

the ir pote ntial listening aud ience. Even nonc om me rc ial sta tions wo uld bene fit from this informa tion

for bo th prog ram ming and p rog ram und erwriting purposes. These da ta ma y be read ily ga thered

throug h a te lep hone survey a dm inistered und er the auspices of an ap propriat e c ourse such as

aud ienc e resea rc h, ad vertising, broad c ast m arketing or broadc ast ma nag eme nt.i This paper

desc ribes the d eve lopm ent a nd results of one suc h survey at a midwe ste rn sta te university in the fa ll

of 1989.

Need For and Utility of Research

While ma ny co lleg e stat ions canno t expec t to d raw large aud ienc es, the financ ial succ ess of

c om me rc ially-supp orted stat ions will be a ffec ted b y aud ienc e size. Bec ause ma ny

stude nt-ope rate d c olleg e rad io stat ions are direc ted a t a cohort audienc e, stude nt prog ram

direc tors and music direc tors ma y assume that they know who listens and wha t their c ohort wa nt to

hea r. Som e feedb ac k ma y be ob ta ined b y telep hone requests, but not a ll listene rs are equally

likely to c a ll in music requests. Music forma t com petition from a rea c om me rc ial sta tions will a lso

have g rea t imp ac t on how any pa rtic ular student-run station may b e p rogramm ed to a ttrac t mo re

listeners.

Just a s imp ortantly, stat ion sales personnel nee d evidenc e that the stat ion aud ience is

at trac tive to po tential adve rtising c lients. As is the c ase in the off -camp us wo rld, po tential loc al

ad vertisers ma y be mo re e asily pe rsuad ed to b uy spa c e in the c am pus newspap er than to invest in

the less tang ible produc t of the stude nt-run rad io stat ion. While radio ac c ount exec utives c an

prom ise results, resea rc h da ta g round s the sales presenta tion in a m uc h mo re firm foundation.


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Radio Survey

From an e duc ational perspec tive, there is muc h to b e g ained b y c onduc ting a udience

research for a stud ent -run radio sta tion. Clea rly the tec hnica l aspec ts of the survey resea rch

proc ess c an be ta ught in an ac tive wa y via an ac tual resea rc h projec t. Perhaps mo re imp ortantly,

both sta tion personne l and c lass me mb ers c an d irec tly see the b ene fits of custom resea rc h. This

knowledg e is be ing rec og nized as critica l for those w ishing to p ursue a career in b roa dc ast or othe r

me dia m ana ge me nt (Ada ms, 1989). They will also b e in a be tter position to bo th spe c ify resea rc h

nee ds as we ll as critica lly ana lyze resea rc h repo rts they will enc ounter in the fu ture.

A review of recent b roa dc ast resea rc h literature revea ls that little att ention has been

foc used on radio, while te levision a nd o ther vide o technologies have att rac ted the ene rgies of

b roa dc ast resea rc hers. Exam ples of survey resea rc h for stud ent -ope ra ted rad io sta tions in

pa rticular are no t read ily ava ilab le, po ssibly bec ause o f bo th the limited numb er of studies

undertaken as we ll as the d esc ript ive nature of the d at a a na lysis. This pa per is one a nswe r to tha t

lac k of attention.

Research Aids

The rad io programm ing resea rc h literature is limited. Rothenb uhler (1985) stud ied the

prog ram de c ision m aking p roc ess at one rad io station, and Fletc her (1987) cited pa st m usic and

rad io resea rc h. While m ore scholarly objec tives ma y be w oven into a rad io resea rc h projec t, the

c am pus stat ion ma y be b est served b y more descriptive ob jec tives. Wimm er and Dom inic k (1987)

noted that de sc ript ive resea rc h in broadc asting is useful "to de termine program ming tastes,

c hang ing va lues, and lifestyle va riations that m ight a ffec t program ming" (p. 102). Mo reover,

information about consumer behavior of radio listeners can be highly useful for marketing purposes.

Wimm er and Dom inic k (1987) listed several ad vanta ges of survey resea rc h for the stud y of

ma ss me d ia: (1) beha vior is exam ined under rea listic sett ings, (2) the cost is rea sona ble, and (3) la rge

am ounts of da ta c an be c ollec ted w ith relative ease from a va riety of respo nde nts. The ma in

d isadvanta ge is the inability to ma nipulate va riab les for ana lytic research. How eve r, desc riptive


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Radio Survey

resea rch nee d prima rily c onc ern itself with two ad dressab le c onc erns: prope r wording of q uestions

and rep resenta tive sam pling tec hnique s.

Using a b roa dc ast resea rc h or manage me nt c lass to a dministe r a listener survey of a

stude nt-ope rate d rad io sta tion ca n overco me t hese d isad vanta ge s. First, the instruc tor ca n

carefully monitor the construction, pretesting and administration of the questionnaire instrument.

Sec ond , stude nt reside nce ha lls (do rmitories) ma y ma ke up the e ntire p op ulation o f po tential

listeners to c losed -circ uit, ca rrier-current c amp us sta tions; where this is the c ase, samp ling ma y be

quite simple.ii Third, student telep hone d irec to ries are usua lly rea d ily ava ilab le, and whe re different

excha nge s are used , on-camp us numb ers ma y be ea sily differentiated from o ff-ca mp us numb ers.

Bec ause stud ent d irec tories ma y contain few er unlisted o r business numbers than c ity direc to ries,

sam pling ma y also be m ore rep resenta tive. Telepho ne resea rc h is the most effec tive me ans for

ga thering informa tion qu ickly and inexpensively from a sta tistica lly-random sam ple. Nonresponse

rat es and the p roliferation of a nswering ma c hines, howe ver, ma y present problem s. iii This paper

de sc ribe s how one survey wa s cond uc ted by a n aud ienc e resea rc h c lass for the closed -circ uit

c om me rcial sta tion at t he university. The results of the listene r survey present a snapshot o f colleg e

students' attitudes and behaviors.

Telephone Research Guides

A num ber of sources a re a va ilab le for assistanc e in the b roa dcast survey resea rc h proc ess.

In their text Ma ss Med ia Resea rch, Wimm er and Dom inic k (1987) provided a w ea lth of informa tion on

telephone survey resea rc h and d ata ana lysis. They have explained sam pling tec hnique s and c ited

interview ing tec hnique s sugg ested by tw o p ublic ations ava ilab le from the National Assoc iation o f

Broa dc aste rs: Webste r (1983) and Saxton (1983). Hiber (1987) include d a c hapter on telephone

research for radio. Fletc her (1987) ga ve exam ples of telep hone q uestionna ire items as we ll as

insights into ties be twe en p rog ram and aud ienc e typ es.

Frey (1983) p resented de tailed proc ed ures and tec hnique s for all phases of the telepho ne


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Radio Survey

survey. He addressed questionna ire c onstruct ion, sam ple selec tion, training o f inte rviewe rs, and

data a na lysis. For classes with more of a research foc us, Williams (1988) is


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Radio Survey

a go od de sc ript ion o f the utility of va rious sta tistics; because c alculat ions are kep t to a minimum , this

supplem ent should be less intimida ting to the b roa dc ast stud ent . Ad ams' (1989) text is a more

ge neral overview of survey resea rc h m ethods and rep orting.

Our Campus Radio Sta tion : "WRCK"

Throug hout this project , the c lass ac ted as a m arket resea rc h firm and the c om me rc ial

student sta tion, which we will ca ll "WRCK," wa s treat ed as a c lient . iv Class me mb ers we re expec ted

to lea rn as muc h ab out WRCK and its research nee ds as po ssible, and sta tion personne l were

expec ted to p oint the class to the m ost need ed informa tion. This also a llow ed bo th pa rties to learn

even more about the commercial research process.

WRCK is a c losed -circ uit rad io sta tion tha t ma y be hea rd b y AM rad io rec eivers in mo st

dormitories via carrier current transmission.v Ca mp us do rm c afe terias are also ha rd -wired to p lay

WRCK via t heir loca l pub lic ad dress sound system s, and this c an b e a very imp ortan t source o f

c ap tive listeners for "WRCK." Ind ividua l c a feteria m anagers (who a re respo nsible for running the ir

food service o pe rations profitab ly in pa rt through a ttrac ting c ash-pa ying c ustom ers) c an a lso selec t

rad io sta tions from an FM tune r instead. This p lac es a further dem and on WRCK to p rec isely ca ter to

stud ents' tastes.

WRCK has been ma de ava ilable to a ll cab le te levision subsc ribers in the system 's franc hise

area , whic h inc ludes the university comm unity and several surrounding tow ns. WRCK is used as the

aud io supp lem ent to a sop histica ted elec tronic c ab le p rog ram guide ("Preview G uide "), which is

c arried on the c ab le system's television channel 14.vi One key que stion addressed by the survey is

the e xtent to which stude nts are exposed to the rad io sta tion via chan nel 14.

WRCK comp etes with rad io sta tions from a ne arby, me dium -sized ma rket which o ffers one

AO R, two C HR, three oldie, two light rock, and o ther po pular music sta tions.vii The c amp us sta tion's

format is an am alga m of AOR, CHR, and c lassic roc k forma ts, with freq uent p rom otional c ontests

and giveaw ays. All music reque sts whic h fit the forma t are played a s qu ickly as po ssible. The


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Radio Survey

req uest feature is assumed to b e one strong a dvanta ge WRCK enjoys ove r the o ther sta tions, many

of w hic h a re either automa ted or programm ed by format c onsultants with no room for actua lly

respond ing to req uests (Rothenb uhler, 1985, review s the p rogram de c ision-ma king d ec isions a t one

suc h sta tion).

The m ost imp ortant ad vertising com petito r to WRCK is the c amp us new spa per, which is

d istributed free four da ys pe r we ek (Tuesday-Friday). In an effort to enha nc e sta tion awarene ss,

raise revenues, and directly compete with the newspaper in providing coupons, WRCK publishes a

mo nthly rad io m ag azine c alled Sound Advice. The ma gazine is sent to a ll do rm itory add resses

throug h the (free ) c am pus mail system .

The ta rget a ud ience for WRCK is undergrad ua te stud ents at t he university. The m a jority of

the unde rgrad uate stude nt body is wome n (about 60%), and the vast ma jority of undergradua tes

(ab out 94%) are trad itiona l stud ents (ag es 18-22). WRCK expe c ts to a ttrac t som e area high sc hoo l

students and university grad uate stud ents as listeners through the cab le system .

Research Areas

The survey had seve ra l ap plied resea rc h goa ls in mind . Que stions gene ra lly focused upo n

program ming issues and sales-rela ted issues. Spec ific a lly, resea rch areas fe ll into six genera l

c a teg ories: leisure-time a c tivities, soc ial beha viors, consumer hab its, gene ra l at titude s and be haviors

with reg ard to rad io listening, spe c ific attitude s and be haviors to wa rd the c am pus stat ion, and

de mo grap hic informa tion. These areas are det ailed g enerally in the orde r in whic h they app ea red

on the questionnaire which is available from the authors.

Stude nt Leisure Activities

Closed -ended questions we re a sked reg arding the respo nde nt's ac c ess to c onsume r

electronics, cable television, and video rentals (including the most preferred source of rentals).

Respo ndents we re a sked ab out the ir monthly purchases of c om pa c t d isc s, rec ord album s, and

c asset tes. These da ta c an be used t o show a dvertisers how large the po ten tial ma rket is for these


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Radio Survey

prod uc ts as well as give WRCK idea s for po ssible p rom ot ional g iveawa ys.

Med ia usag e questions we re included so WRCK could ge t som e idea ab out b oth

c om pe titive m ed ia outlets and hours listened to rad io. Questions reg arding rea de rship a nd fa vorite

sec tions of the c om pe titive ca mp us new spa pe r we re asked. The survey c ollec ted respo nses of

weekly use of the rad io for news, wea ther and spo rts to aid stat ion p rog ram me rs.

Two key unknow ns to WRCK were ho w m any listeners either (1) are exposed to the sta tion via

c ab le without rea lizing it or (2) are likely to use the te levision set fo r rad io listening. Thus, da ily

te levision use wa s of interest as an ind ica tion of po tential exposure to WRCK. Respond ents we re

also a sked ho w o ften they had the te levision set o n while b oth studying a nd do ing o ther ac tivities,

how often they w at c hed music vide os, and ab out t heir source of te levision p rog ram listings.

Social Activities of Students

Respo nde nts we re a sked how o ften they traveled to the ir hom etowns on the weekends;

these d at a a re useful in show ing advertisers how large WRCK's pote ntial aud ience is on w ee kends as

we ll as the ir ava ilability to purchase loc a l me rc hants' goods and servic es. Que stions on soc ial

ac tivities de lved into the freq uenc y of "partying" in ge neral, as we ll as att end anc e a t the follow ing

eve nts: spo rts, plays, movies, greek events, da nc es, music rec itals, and mo vies (inc luding w hich

thea te rs we re mo st popular). The stud ents' source of informa tion about these events wa s req uested

to see wha t role WRCK did o r could play in pub lic izing or promo ting c am pus events.

Student Consumer Habits

Loc al me rc hants c an b e imp ressed by d ata showing the spe nding p otential of university

students, and items ab out spend ing habits we re written with the mo st likely WRCK ad vertising c lients

in mind. These inc lude d b ars, resta urant s, fast foo d outlet s, p izza p arlors, g roc ery sto res, service

sta tions, reta il stores, and a rea shop p ing ma lls. Respond ents we re asked to indica te freq uenc y of

pa trona ge , ave rag e do llars spe nt p er visit, and usag e of c oup ons at the various estab lishments.

Respo nde nts we re asked t heir weekly amo unt of disc retionary incom e. Anothe r indica tion


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of stud ents' po tential purc hasing pow er wa s the possession and use of cred it c a rds. Respond ents

we re asked which c red it ca rds they had a nd how o ften they were used . Stude nts we re also asked

ab out use o f autom ated -teller mac hines as bo th an indic ation of c ash ac c ess and a sourc e o f

market information of interest to potential bank advertisers.

Radio Attitude s and Listening Behaviors

Respond ents estima ted da ily numb er of hours listened to ind ividual rad io sta tions.

Co rrespo nding att itude s tow ard those stat ions were me asured ba sed upon 5-po int Likert item s

(strong ly ag ree throug h strong ly disag ree ). Spec ific a ttitudes include d sta tion sa tisfac tion gene ra lly,

perceived rep etition o f the sta tion's music , likability o f d isk joc keys, uniquene ss of t he sta tion, the

likab ility of the music, and w hether the sta tion played new artists and new relea ses. Stud ents

ranked their favo rite and sec ond favo rite a rea rad io sta tions.

Bec ause a rad io listener might only be som ew ha t sa tisfied even b y a "favorite" sta tion,

respond ents we re late r asked to c ont rast ac tua l sta tions with their imag ined, "idea l" sta tion. With a

fic tional ide al stat ion in mind, eac h of the loc al sta tions wa s rate d o n a sc ale of o ne (c lose to

respo nde nt ide al) to five (different from respo nde nt ide al). Respo nde nt music p referenc es we re

simila rly mea sured on va rious music typ es with exam ples of typ ica l artists g iven for ea c h:viii music of

the 60s and 70s, c urrent hits, hea vy meta l, me llow , jazz/ new a ge, reg ga e, and p rog ressive. Should

"favorite " sta tions d iffer from "idea l" sta tions, this wo uld b e an indica tion o f som e dissa tisfac tion w ith

ava ilab le off-ca mp us stat ions.

To he lp the WRCK promo tions sta ff de te rmine the most a ttrac tive c ontests and prizes,

a ttitudes tow ard various prem iums we re me asured. Other spec ific rad io listening beha viors

me asured inc lude d c om me rc ial a voidance, listening w hile studying, c alling in song req uests, and

contest participation.

Campus Radio Station Awareness

The survey asked the respo nde nts to na me the a c am pus rad io stat ion via unaided rec all. If


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the c losed -circuit sta tion (WRCK) was name d, the stude nt w as asked how ma ny hours pe r week

we re spent listening along with listen ing to spe c ialty show s on WRCK. Finally, an open -ended

question fo c used on the student's image of WRCK: "What do you th ink of w hen I say WRCK rad io?"

Demographics

The final part of the survey a sked de mo grap hic information: ge nde r, ag e, c lass rank, and

number of hours per we ek spe nt working if the respo ndent wa s em ployed . This informat ion wa s

gathered to see if c ertain students we re mo re at trac ted to spe c ific sta tions or music fo rma ts. It also

provided da ta w hic h co uld b e c ross-referenc ed with consumer hab its and spe c ific soc ial beha vior.

Method

A list of a ll ac tive residenc e te lepho ne num bers wa s sec ured from the university, and

numbers we re systema tica lly selec ted from the list. ix Bec ause the c am pus rad io stat ion trad itionally

op erate d via c arrier-current , the assumption wa s ma de tha t mo st stud ent listeners re side in the

dormitories. Numb ers from o ff-ca mp us respond ents we re draw n from a university direc tory of

students, a lso using systema tic samp ling . Ab out one -third of the samp le wa s designed t o measure

off-ca mp us stude nts who c ould rece ive WRCK via the c ab le system 's elec tronic p rog ram guide

(channel 14); off-c am pus stude nts without c ab le we re excluded from the survey, while all reside nce

hall loung es have "free " cab le giving a ll do rm reside nts ac c ess to c ab le. Bec ause off -camp us

stude nts without c ab le w ere exc lude d, the results are not rep resenta tive of the entire stude nt b od y.

Partic ipa nts in the survey w ere told that they w ere c om pleting a "survey rega rding colleg e

life" and t hat t he interview er need ed to spe ak to a current stude nt a t the loc al universit y, loc ate d in

a m idwe stern tow n of 30,000 residen ts (including stud ents). A filter question wa s used to d etermine

if the person who a nswered the phone w as an em ployee of a rad io station. Off-ca mp us

respo nde nts we re limited to t hose w ith c ab le te levision (which p ut them in the c am pus stat ion's

po tential aud ienc e). The questionnaire took ab out ten minutes to ad minister.

Bec ause a broadc ast resea rc h c lass wa s used to c ollec t the d ata , there w as c onside rab le


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Radio Survey

op portunity to train the interview ers in p rop er te lepho ne survey tec hniques. Stud ents we re exposed

to survey me thods, sam pling theory and que stionna ire develop me nt in c lass. Stud ent rad io sta tion

staff (the c lient) p resented program ming, sales, ima ge , and promo tional ob jec tives to the c lass (the

resea rc h consultant). Projec t groups then develope d app rop riate resea rc h questions follow ed b y

design of the ir ow n survey instruments to a ddress those que stions. Group questionna ires we re

reviewe d in c lass and by stat ion p ersonnel be fore the q uestionnaires we re reduc ed to o ne final

survey instrument by the instructo r. The q uestionna ire wa s p re -tested b y class me mb ers which

helped correc t any problems with the instrument. Interview training and p rac tice w as also a p art of

class activities.x

The survey wa s cond uc ted over one wee k in the evening from 5 p .m. to 10 p.m. Mem be rs

of the fac ulty a llow ed the use o f their office telephones for the survey, under the direc t supe rvision o f

the c ourse instruc tor. Stude nts we re required to log in and out o f the fac ulty offic e, and signe d a

form indica ting their assumption of respo nsibility for use of the o ffice . Fac ulty me mb ers we re

enc ourage d to sec ure the ir offic es as we ll as rep ort any prob lem s imm ed iate ly; none oc c urred .xi

Use o f fac ulty offices pe rmitted an imp ortant d eg ree of c entralized c ontrol nece ssary for consistent

administration of the survey by the 45 stud ents in the c lass. Up to three c all-ba c ks we re used to

rea c h the sam pled num be rs.xii There we re 522 c om pleted interview s.

Data entry wa s ma de by ha ving students c od e the da ta onto fa miliar optica lly-sc anned

sheets norma lly used to rec ord a nswers from ob jec tive exam s; the data we re the n sc anne d with

outp ut availab le on either pe rsona l c om pute r diskette or ma infram e tap e . The da ta we re ana lyzed

using SPSSX V4.0 with frequenc ies first be ing ca lcu lated . Som e c rossta bulat ions for ma rket ing

purposes a re repo rted in this pap er, and o thers a re ava ilable from the a uthors. A multiple reg ression

wa s run on rad io listen ing per we ek for five of t he six pred icto rs (from the fourth set of resea rc h

questions mentioned above).

Results


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Radio Survey

Nea rly 49% of the stud ents surveyed we re 18 or 19 yea rs old. Ab out 55% of the respond ents

we re freshmen or sop hom ores. Fem ales ac c ounted for 57% of the c om pleted surveys, and this is

similar to the g end er make-up o f the ove rall stude nt po pulation. 42% of the respo nde nts held

paying job s, and 44% of the se w orkers we re employed fifteen o r mo re hours per wee k.

___________________________

Insert Tab le 1 about here

___________________________

Tab le 1 show s the p resenc e of e ntertainment d evice s and servic es amo ng the respo nde nts.

Ove r 92% of the sam ple had a television set in their roo ms, with 76% color TV pe net rat ion. Ab out

87% of the stud ents had a ste reo a nd / or cassett e player in their roo ms. Both the vide oc asset te

rec order and the c om pa c t disc p laye r had a 30% pe netration am ong those surveyed . Only 20%

had co mp uters and 15% had video ga mes.

Ca ble te levision penet ration (not includ ing ac c ess to do rmitory lounges) was 47% in the

entire student sam ple (off-c am pus students had to ha ve c ab le to be included) a s c omp ared to 67%

of a sep arate c ity sam ple ac c ording to a more rec ent survey, also ava ilab le from the a uthors. Over

21% of a ll respo nde nts subsc ribe d to a t least one pa y mo vie c hanne l, whereas the na tional averag e

is about 29.7% ("By the numbers," 1990).

Nearly 61% of the stude nts c laimed t o read the c am pus newspap er every da y, with news

being the m ost popular item (32.8%). Radio new s wa s tune d to regularly by about 28% of the

respond ents, with 50% having cla imed t ha t they neve r did so. Ove r 52% neve r tuned to rad io

we ather and 66% neve r tuned to spo rts sc ores. The m ost po pular response (23%) for the num ber of

hours of TV wa tc hed da ily was "b etw een two and three ," although 45% said the y wa tc hed three or

mo re hours pe r day; nea rly 44% of the stud ents wa tc hed TV while stud ying a t least onc e p er wee k.

Almost 60% of the sam ple said they w atc hed music c hanne ls (e.g., MTV) at lea st onc e p er wee k.


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Radio Survey

Nearly 43% of a ll respo nde nts said they tuned to Ca ble C hannel 14 occ asiona lly, with a bo ut

22% confirming d a ily use. When non-subsc ribers to c ab le were de leted from t he responses, the

percentage of da ily users c limb ed to 42% of cable subsc ribe rs. Ove r 67% of the c ab le subsc ribers

rep orted using C ab le C hannel 14 at least onc e p er week.

___________________________


___________________________

Persona l soc ial hab its a re summarized in Tab le 2. Almost 40% of the students sa id they go

hom e onc e a m onth. Of the 46% who w ent out to local bars every week, 21% went two or three

times a w eek and 22% went o nce per week. Fully 89% of the respo nde nts who knew a bo ut two

non-a lcoholic ba rs on camp us sa id they had never visited either of them . Spo rts eve nts we re very

pop ular (82%), mo vies som ew hat po pular (42%), Greek eve nts less so (32%), and only 20% at tended

at lea st one p lay, rec ital, or da nce tha t sem ester. The ma in source of information on soc ial events

wa s the camp us new spap er (66%), follow ed by wo rd -of-mout h (35%) and flyers or signs (15%).

___________________________


___________________________

Not surprisingly, bec ause freshma n and sop hom ores are ho used in dormitories, half of the

stude nts said they eat on c am pus eve ry da y. Nea rly 53% did not know wha t rad io stat ion wa s be ing

played mo st often in their cafe teria. Ove r 60% ate at a c asual (sit-do wn) restaurant in the previous

mo nth, with 80% spend ing unde r $19 per visit. Ove r 68% sa id they a te a t a fa st food restaurant the

previous week; the most popular such restaurant was McDonald's (45%), perhaps because it was

c losest to most of the do rmito ries. Less than 36% thought coup ons we re impo rtant or very important

for choo sing w here to g o for fast food , whereas 66% said the y did a ffec t whe re the y ca lled for


15/37

Radio Survey

de livered foo d. Almost 35% of the stude nts had called out "onc e or twic e" the p revious mo nt h for

food de livery. Som e loca l supe rma rkets offer "do uble c oup ons" and this ap pe ars to be impo rtant a s

28% view ed groc ery coup ons as imp ortant in their c hoice of whe re to shop .

Just under 54% of the stude nts had an auto mo bile in tow n, which ma y explain why few er

than half of them shop pe d a t out-of-tow n malls (good news for loc al merchants). About 45% had

at lea st one ma jor credit c ard; of those, ab out 24% used one less than onc e a mo nth, 33% onc e o r

twice a m onth and 44% three or more time s a m onth. Three out of four stude nts had unde r $30 per

week of spe nding mo ney, with 30% be twe en $20 and $29 and 27% be twe en $10 and $19. Ab out

58% pa id to see a n off-ca mp us mo vie a t lea st onc e per month.

___________________________


___________________________

Tab le 4 sum marizes the find ings concerning rad io listening hab its. Nea rly 84% never listen to

AM radio over a wee k's time. When asked how m any hours in an averag e da y they listened to the

rad io, mo re tha n 64% estima ted und er three hours, with "one to tw o hours" the m ost pop ular

response (25%). Close to 49% of the students "regularly" avoide d c om me rc ials, wherea s nea rly 60%

listened to the rad io while stud ying . Ove r 80% of the sample "neve r" c a lled in song req uests and 79%

"never" p layed rad io c ontests. When asked to ident ify their favorite and sec ond fa vorite sta tions,

three FM sta tions em erge d a s dom inant, ac c ount ing for nearly 84% of the responses.

The three top sta tions were ranked on seve ral items: freq uenc y of listening, p ercentag e of

first p lac e ranking, sec ond p lac e ranking, general sa tisfac tion, rep etitive m usic, likea b le disk joc keys,

uniqueness, likeab le music, and at ten tion to new a rtists and new releases. These three sta tions

broadc ast from the me dium market loc ate d 20 miles aw ay. The album -oriented roc k sta tion,

name d "WAO R" here, features a long -sta nd ing, suc c essful, na tiona lly-co nsulted AOR forma t. The


16/37

Radio Survey

two othe r top sta tions are bo th high e nergy co ntem po rary hit radio stat ions, and a re lab elled

"WCHR-1" and "WCHR-2." The most imp orta nt diffe renc e betwe en the se tw o very similar sta tions is

that WCHR-2 had c hang ed its format from a more a dult c ontemp orary sound several months ea rlier

in direc t response to WC HR-1's high ly suc c essful forma t.

WAOR had the largest seg ment of self-described da ily listeners (35%). Over 66% sa id they

listened onc e a we ek or mo re. Only ab out 22% felt that the music on WAOR wa s rep etitive. More

tha n 82% of the stud ents liked the d isk jockeys on WAOR.

WCHR-1 had the sec ond largest g roup o f da ily listeners (31%). Over 65% sa id they listened

onc e a w eek or mo re. In co ntrast to their be liefs ab out WAOR, stude nts ag reed tha t music on

WCHR-1 wa s repet itive (73%). Nea rly 74% of those surveye d liked the d isk joc keys on WCHR-1.

WCHR-2 had t he th ird la rgest percentage of d aily listeners (25%). Ove r 62% sa id they

listened onc e a we ek or mo re. Around 70%, slightly less than WCHR-1, felt that t he m usic on WCHR-2

was repet itive. Slightly few er stud ents (65%) liked the d isk joc keys on WCHR-2 tha n on WCHR-1.

When asked ab out t heir "ide al" rad io stat ion, the respo nde nts valida ted the ranking of the

top three stat ions. The five-point sc ale me asured how c lose e ac h staion wa s to the respo nde nts'

idea l sta tion with 1, 3 and 5 respresenting "c lose," "ne ither," and "different," respec tive ly. Using the

aggreg ate o f values 1 and 2 to me asure a person's suppo rt for a sta tion, WAO R had o ver 40% of the

students' support, WCHR-1 had over 31%, and WCHR-2 had close to 25% of the scaled responses

(n=503). These three sta tions c lea rly a re the sta tions of cho ice fo r university stud ents.

A less direc t me thod o f c ross-valida ting the rankings involved a selec tive freq uenc y proc ess.

Selec ting out only those respond ents who had m ent ioned a set o f ca ll lette rs as their "favorite "

sta tion ea rlier in the survey, 74% of the support w ent to WAOR, 72% to WCHR-1 and 74% to WCHR-2.

How eve r, when "support" wa s mo re narrow ly de fined as a c losene ss va lue of 1, only 23%, 28% and

21% of the respondents named their favorite station (WAOR, WCHR-1 or WCHR-2) as their ideal

sta tion, respec tively.


17/37

Radio Survey

___________________________


___________________________

A multiple reg ression wa s run to p red ict the numbe r of hours pe r we ek in whic h listening wa s

rep orted (see Table 5). The indep end ent va riab les we re the five Likert items de sc ribing eac h of the

three sta tions as rep orted a bove . The responses gaug ing sat isfac tion and likab ility of music w ere

hypo thesized t o be st pred ict hours of listening. Both va riab les we re interco rrelat ed a t ab out 67%,

how eve r, ma king it nec essary to delete sa tisfac tion as a pred icto r of da ily listening. Althoug h the

inde pe nde nt variab les did not explain muc h of the varianc e am ong the t ota l listening for ea c h

sta tion, a c oup le of the stations we re signific antly affec ted b y the likab ility of d isk joc keys, afte r

c ont rolling fo r likab ility of the m usic played . WAOR, for exam ple, show ed sign ific an t (p < .05)

increment to R2 for likab ility of DJs ove r and ab ove the va rianc e explained by likab ility of m usic.

__________________________________

Insert Tab les 6 and 7 ab out here

__________________________________

WAOR was most often ranked as favorite station (41%), whereas WCHR-1 and WCHR-2 tied

for sec ond -plac e stat ion (31% ea c h). WRCK wa s ranked first and sec ond plac e b y only ab out 1%

and 3%, respec tively. Using an una ided rec a ll item, WRCK was ident ified by nearly 35% of the

students as be ing a c am pus sta tion. Of the 19% who listened to WRCK, mo st (56%) estima ted the ir

listen ing at just one hour pe r we ek. All respo ndents we re asked d irec tly ab out the ir image of WRCK

whe ther they listened o r not (see Tab le 7). Aside from the 29% who respond ed tha t they had no

thoughts abo ut the sta tion, 17% sa id they liked it, 11% thought it am ateurish, and 42.6% me ntioned

others responses. There wa s a lso evidenc e o f confusion w ith the university's FM b road c ast stud ent

stat ion w hich fea tures an e c lec tic a nd p rog ressive forma t.


18/37


19/37

Radio Survey

WCHR-2 changed forma ts only a few m onths p rior to the survey. Thus, olde r respond ents migh t

have ba sed their rankings more on the estab lished pe rc ep tion of the stat ions former forma t.

Discussion a nd Implica tions

The results of t his survey can be pu t to use b y WRCK. Althoug h the camp us sta tion listen ing

was limited, there is evidence that students might tune into WRCK's programming if potential

aud ienc e memb ers are mad e aw are of the stat ion. WRCK c an build upo n the overall po pula rity of

rad io listening by c om pe ting for a signific ant share of the large rad io listen ing pie. WRCK is neither

an AOR format no r a C HR format e ntirely. By co mb ining the se tw o forma ts, which a pp arently

ap pe al to two d ifferent aud ienc es, WRCK ma y not be p rec isely targe ting the c olleg e aud ienc e.

Rad io ha bits in this study c onfirme d a nationa l trend : fewe r and fewe r people a re listening to

AM rad io. Bec ause c am pus sta tions using c arrier-c urrent tec hnology are always on the AM b and ,

this doe s not b od e we ll for sta tions like WRCK. If stud ents a re som eho w c ond itione d to a void AM

rad io be fore they arrive at c olleg e, there is little hop e fo r g row th in listening a t suc h camp us sta tions.

How ever, othe rs ma y argue that co mp elling programm ing would attrac t an audienc e. The low

awa rene ss of WRCK is a key p rob lem, and the a ssoc iation with AM is not a pe rc ep tua l asset .

Ironic ally, stud ent o perato rs of WRCK are reluc ta nt to g ive up o n the A M signa l whic h, in their view,

a t lea st ma kes the sta tion ava ilab le to all d orm roo ms. Evidenc e from this survey, howeve r, is

assisting the fac ulty advisor in c onvinc ing WRCK personne l that a switc h to c ab le FM ste reo carriage

is c ritic a l. The utility of c ab le FM is limited to day as bo th awa rene ss of its ava ilab ility and prom otion

of the servic e b y cab le operators is very limited .xiii

The c arriag e o f WRCK on the c ab le p rog ram guide ap pe ars to b e a substantial asset to the

sta tion's rea c h. Althoug h sta tion pe rsonne l we re dub ious abo ut the possibility of signific an t list ening

to WRCK by expo sure to c ab le c hannel 14, the results showe d da ily exposure a mo ng c ab le

subsc ribers. WRCK is in a p osition to ta ke ad vanta ge of this expo sure by introduc ing stud ents to the

stat ion's program ming and promo tional ac tivities.


20/37

Radio Survey

New s on rad io gene ra lly was not desired b y most stud ents. Althoug h the lac k on interest in

new s from students wa s not surprising, the e xplana tion c ould lie in the ready availab ility of new s from

other sources suc h as CNN a nd USA Today, although evidenc e is building that tod ay's stude nts are

not interested in c urrent a ffairs. The sta tion's response to this finding ha s be en to inc rea se the

rep orting of "ca mp us informa tion" and ac tivities during newscasts while red uc ing the am ount of

stat e and na tional new s taken from the w ire servic e. Anothe r ide a for the ca mp us sta tion is to

loc alize stat e a nd national new s by g etting reac tions from loc al professors and c onc entrating on

stories with direc t imp ac t on stude nts. If the stat ion bec om es known as the source fo r imp ortant

c am pus informa tion, it will have an a dva ntag e ove r the m etropo litan sta tions loc at ed 20 miles

away.

Judg ing from the eva luations of the favo rite sta tions mentioned in this survey, c olleg e -age

listeners wa nt a variet y of music and p ersona b le disk jockeys. A pe rc eived w ea kness of the top

three (espe c ially CHR) co mm ercial stat ions is the p ercept ion tha t they a re repe titive. The c am pus

stat ion c an t ake a dva ntag e o f this pe rc eived w ea kness by p rom oting its great er variety of m usic

ma de p ossible by b oth its c rossove r AO R/ CHR forma t as we ll as its playing req uests. The fa c t tha t

the respo nde nt's favo rite stat ion w as often no t c lose to a pe rc eived "ide al" sta tion means that WRCK

prog ram me rs c an a ttem pt t o p osition the stat ion c loser to that idea l, and tha t sale s staff m em be rs

c an show existing rad io ad vertisers the d ifferenc e.

The p op ularity of m usic from the 1960s and 1970s wa s som ew hat surprising. Althoug h WAOR

provides music from the e ra , the p laylist is gene ra lly limited to c lassic roc k sta ndards. These results

we re inco rpo rat ed into the c am pus stat ion's prog ram planning, and the m usic direc tor has step pe d

up e fforts to retrieve this olde r music , now ava ilable on com pa c t d isks, from various rec ord lab els.

The finding tha t hav ing likab le DJs signific antly ad ds to the pred iction o f the quantity of

listening to the num be r-one rad io sta tion w ould indica te t hat music is only a p art of the formula for a

suc c essful forma t. The same result was not sta tistica lly signific an t for the ide a o f rep etition.


21/37

Radio Survey

Freq uent c hanne l switching m ay b e a result of the te nda ncy of com me rc ial stat ions to p lay the

sam e song s rep ea ted ly. Mea suring othe r variab les which ma y contribute to the pred ic tion of rad io

listening c ould b e enlighte ning.

The da ta c ollec ted in this survey a re va luab le for ma rket ing purpo ses. The sta tion sa les sta ff

c an b uild a profile o f its po tential audienc e a nd the ir spe nding, co nsump tion, and me dia ha bits.

Som e a dve rtisers ma y find the se d ata to b e a s muc h of va lue a s the he lp p rovided by the stat ion

throug h ad vertising a nd ot her promo tional ac tivities. These data are not rea dily ava ilab le

espe c ially in the sma ller c olleg e tow n.

Reg ardless of the interpreta tion of the d ata , there a re c lear bene fits to c ond uc ting resea rc h

for the stude nt-ope rate d c am pus rad io stat ion. The prog ram ming and sales sta ff rec eive useful

information. The manag em ent ca n ge t ide as ab out what need s to be do ne to inc rea se listening.

Last a nd certainly not lea st, the resea rc h c lass ge ts a chanc e t o d o a "rea l survey" whic h p rovides

mo re mea ningful da ta. Often the sam e stude nts who do the resea rc h are involved with the

sta tions. Som et imes they lea rn that the re is mo re to rad io than the highly visible on air po sitions. A

telephone survey c an q uic kly c rea te large am ounts of useful informa tion.

Prob lems in ga thering informa tion in this stud y we re kep t to a m inimum due to the supervision

of the stud ent interview ers from a c ent ral loc a tion. Althoug h it may see m ea sier to allow stud ents in

a broad cast resea rc h c lass to cond uc t the ir telep hone surveys from their reside nces, the e ffic ienc y,

reliab ility and validity of the d at a c ollec tion a re g rea ter from the c entral loc ation (Wimm er &

Dominick, 1987).

Ga thering c ustom resea rc h d ata for the a dve rtiser-supp orted colleg e stat ion is mo re

imp ortant tod ay than ever. Comp etition for loc al ad vertising d ollars is inc rea sing a s loc al ca ble

systems mo ve into p rovid ing inexpensive, localized video ad s inserted into cable ne twork ava ils.

"Prop rieta ry" resea rc h c ond uc ted for the c am pus stat ion g ives tha t sta tion more a mm unition for its

marketing arsenal.


22/37

Radio Survey

There is a ne ed for more reporting on suc h case stud ies of listener surveys. Ca mp us radio

listen ing surveys serve to ed uc at e those who op erate o r supervise colleg e rad io sta tions. Given

prop er ad ministrative c ont rols, suc h wo rk ma y also b e used to c ont ribute to serious sc holarly study.

Part of the ne ed stems from a d esire to he lp stud ents find their ow n answe rs. Ano ther aim is to find

be tter ways to help them a cc om plish their go als.


23/37

Radio Survey

Endnotes

i. Even in smaller programs where the number of broadcast classes may be limited, students may be

trained a s interview ers. Inde ed , ma ny tec hnique s for broad c ast announc ing are applic ab le to

telephone interview training.

ii. Permission was required from our university's residence life director to conduct this survey, and this

wa s rea dily given to us. The m a in c onc ern was tha t our survey was not intend ed to sell resident s any

prod uc t or servic e, and tha t the survey w as for resea rc h purpo ses.

iii. Another survey conducted by one of the authors in the spring of 1990 found that answering

ma c hines ac c ounted for 28% of non-co mp letions from c onta c ted , eligible telephone numb ers.

iv. The university has two cam pus radio sta tions tha t are both stud ent op erate d . The one no t

include d in this stud y is a non-co mm erc ial, prog ressive sta tion which rec eives university fund ing.

v. This c amp us rad io sta tion will not b e a ble to d ep end upon its c arrier c urrent transmission muc h

long er. The vac uum tube -ba sed transmitters are not expec ted to be rep lac ed . Instea d, the

sta tion will be up grade d t o full stereo transmission capab ility over the c ab le television system's c ab le

FM servic e. The university also houses a nonc om me rcial, progressive music, b roa dc ast FM sta tion,

further reducing the already slim chances of getting a broadcast license for the carrier-current

sta tion. Should cab le system s c hoo se to bo th de liver and p rom ote new "digital" aud io servic es, this

untapp ed med ium ma y bec ome a viable med ium for distribution of ca mp us rad io p rogramm ing.

vi. Although relations between the campus station and the local cable operator have been

excellent, the distribution of WRCK on channel 14 was included in the contract which allowed the

cable operator to offer service to dormitory residents along with fraternity and sorority houses on

campus.

vii. The university also has a stud ent -run FM broa dc ast sta tion w ith a p rog ressive fo rma t; resea rc h

conducted in 1985 suggested some confusion among campus residents in distinguishing the identity

of the 2 sta tions.

viii. While this c an lead to p ossible va lid ity prob lems, artists we re c hosen wh ich t he 45 class me mb ers

ag reed w ere indica tive o f the music c at eg ories. These a rtists we re a lso p art of the pretest of the

survey instrument.

ix. This wa s only possible throug h w ritten a ssuranc e tha t the survey wa s for resea rc h purposes andrespo nses wo uld b e kept a nonymo us. Som e c am puses ma y not be a s c oope rat ive in giving out

residence numbers.

x. Inte restingly, stud ents we re orig inally quite skep tica l of the respond ents' willingness to participa te in

a 10-minute survey. Bec ause survey te rmina tions we re not a p roblem , students learned tha t

telephone surveys ma y be mo re va lid than they originally be lieved.

xi. This survey wa s so succ essful that another survey using the sam e p roced ure wa s c ond uc ted in the

spring 1990. Only one fac ulty me mb er refused use of an office d ue to an app arent theft which had

oc c urred the p revious year (not during a te lep hone survey). In programs whe re g rad uate stude nts


24/37

Radio Survey

are a va ilable, they ma y assist in the administration (and other areas) of the survey.

xii. An oversight in the design of this instrument was the exclusion of a question concerning

respo nde nt use o f a telep hone a nswering m ac hine. The p roliferation of these d evice s along w ith

their utility as a screening device is having serious implications for telephone survey research.

Strate gies must be c rea ted to enc ourage pa rticipa tion by those who c hoose no t to t ake c alls until

they know who is c alling.

xiii. The ava ilab ility of "d igital rad io sta tions" on c ab le FM m ay ma ke this neg lec ted m ed ium mo re

ap pe aling to c ab le subsc ribers (e.g., Ca rter and Kob b, 1990). Harmon (1989) de ta iled the p rob lems

of c ab le FM from bo th the subsc ribe r and c ab le ope rat or's po int of view.


25/37

Radio Survey

References

Ad ams, R. C. (1989). Social Survey Methods for Mass Media Research. Hillsdale, New Jersey:

Law renc e Erlbaum Assoc iates.

By the num bers 2. (1990, June 15). Broadc asting, p . 15.

Carter, A., & Kobb, B. (1990, June 13). Two file fo r digita l rad io. RadioWorld, pp . 1, 7.

Fletc her, J. E. (1987). Music & Program Research. Washington, D.C.: Nationa l Assoc iation o f

Broadcasters.

Frey, J. H. (1983). Survey Research by Telephone. Beverly Hills, California : Sage Pub lic ations.

Harmon, J. (1989). A study of diffusion theory and cable a udio. Unpublished masters thesis, Bowling

Gree n Sta te University, Bow ling Gree n, Ohio.

Rothenb uhler, E. W. (1985). Prog ramm ing d ec ision m aking in po pu lar music rad io. Communication

Research, 12(2), 209-232.

Saxton, J. (1983). Audience research workbook. Washington, D.C.: Nationa l Assoc iation o f

Broadcasters.

Williams, F. (1986). Reasoning with statistics: How to read quantitative research. New York: CBS

Co lleg e Pub lishing.

Webster, J. (1983). Audience resea rch. Washingto n, D.C.: Nat ional Assoc iation o f Broa dc asters.

Wimm er, R.D., & Dominick, J.R. (1987). Mass Media Research. Belmo nt, CA: Wadsworth.


26/37

Radio Survey

Tab le 1

Presenc e o f ente rta inment d evice s and services among c olleg e students (n=522)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Device or Service Perce ntage

__________________________________________________________________________________

Television 92.1

Blac k and White 33.0

Color 76.4

Ste reo Receiver 86.8

Aud io Ca ssette Playe r 87.9

VCR 29.7

Co mp ac t Disc Player 30.4

Persona l Co mp ute r 20.4

Video Ga mes 15.0

Cab le TV 47.1

Pay Channe ls 21.3

Ca mp us new spaper (da ily) 60.8

Rad io news (da ily) 27.6

we ather (da ily) 29.3

sports (da ily) 10.6

TV (two to three hours da ily) 22.7

Ch. 14 exposure (da ily) 21.6

__________________________________________________________________________________


27/37

Radio Survey

Tab le 2

Persona l soc ial hab its among c olleg e students (n=522)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Activity Percentage

__________________________________________________________________________________

Trips home (month ly) 39.7

Bar visits (weekly or mo re) 46.5

Onc e a we ek 22.0

2 to 3 times per wee k 21.4

Visits to non-a lco ho lic ba rs 11.5

Sports 82.1

Movies 42.7

Greek eve nts 31.7

Dances 18.5

Plays 19.1

Music rec ita ls 19.5

__________________________________________________________________________________

Source of information

__________________________________________________________________________________

Ca mp us new spaper 66.1

Friends 35.5

Flyers 15.1

__________________________________________________________________________________


28/37

Radio Survey

Tab le 3

Eating and financ ia l transac tions among c olleg e students (n=522)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Activity Percentage

__________________________________________________________________________________

Ca feteria atte nda nce (da ily) 49.3

Ca sua l restaurant (mo nthly) 60.3

Spend less tha n $19 79.9

Fast foo d (wee kly) 68.2

Food delivery (mo nthly) 54.6

Onc e or twice monthly 34.8

__________________________________________________________________________________

Finances Percentage

__________________________________________________________________________________

At least one ma jor c red it ca rd 45.4

Spe nding money (we ekly)

Less than $10 19.2

$10-19 27.4

$20-29 30.0

$30-39 8.6

$40-49 6.0

$50 or mo re 8.8

Paid movie atte nda nce (monthly) 58.7

__________________________________________________________________________________


29/37

Radio Survey

Tab le 4

Rad io listening ha b its amo ng c olleg e students

__________________________________________________________________________________

Activity Percentage

__________________________________________________________________________________

AM rad io (onc e in a wh ile) 16.4

Rad io hours per da y

Less tha n one hour 18.0

1 to 2 ho urs 25.0

2 to 3 ho urs 21.4

3 to 4 ho urs 13.0

4 or mo re 22.6

Comme rc ial avo ida nce 49.2

Ca ll-in req uests 19.9

Play contests 21.0

__________________________________________________________________________________

Sta tion Da ily Listeners Too Repetitive Likab le Disk Joc keys(%) n=500 (%) n=355 (%) n=343

__________________________________________________________________________________

WAOR 35.0 21.9 82.2

WCHR-1 31.2 73.0 73.6

WCHR-2 24.7 70.4 64.9

__________________________________________________________________________________


30/37

Radio Survey

Tab le 5

Multiple reg ression o f rad io sta tion a ttribute s on hours of listening

__________________________________________________________________________________

WAOR

Dep end ent va riab le: WAOR listen ing ea ch wee k (six-po int sca le)

M = 2.71 SD = 2.10

Step 1 Likab ility of Music R2 = .122 F = 46.90

Step 2 Likab ility of DJs R2 = .134 F = 26.08

N = 338

R2 cha nge = .012

F c hange = 4.74 Signific anc e of change = 0.03

__________________________________________________________________________________

Note:The six-po int sc a le used 1=da ily and 6=neve r. WCHR-1 and WCHR-2 d id not ha ve

variab les which w ere p ositively rela ted to wee kly listening .


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Radio Survey

Tab le 6

Rad io sta tion rankings amo ng c olleg e students

__________________________________________________________________________________

Sta tion First p lac e (n=481) Sec ond p lac e (n=436)

__________________________________________________________________________________

WAOR 40.5 16.5

WCHR-1 28.1 31.2

WCHR-2 15.2 31.2

WRCK 1.2 0.0

__________________________________________________________________________________


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Radio Survey

Tab le 7

Attitude s tow ard the ca mp us station

What do you think of when I say "WRCK" rad io? (N=508)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Attitude Percentage

__________________________________________________________________________________

Clueless 29.3

Like it 17.3

Amateur 10.8

Ta lk/News/ Sports 7.7

Co ntem porary hit rad io 6.3

AM 2.0

Poo r rec ep tion 0.8

Other 25.8

__________________________________________________________________________________


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Radio Survey

Tab le 8

Music p refe renc es amo ng co lleg e students (n=515)

__________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________MostFavorite Neutral Not Lea stfavorite favorite

________________________________________________________

Format Percentage

__________________________________________________________________________________

60s/ 70s music 24.3 31.1 24.7 13.8 6.2

Popula r hits 24.1 29.9 21.6 12.2 12.2

Hea vy meta l 7.4 15.5 16.7 18.1 42.3

Soft roc k 10.1 34.8 29.8 18.7 6.6

Jazz/ new age 7.6 16.8 27.3 28.3 20.1

Reggae 7.0 19.2 24.0 22.9 26.9

Prog ressive 12.2 14.9 18.2 23.9 30.8

__________________________________________________________________________________


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Radio Survey

Tab le 9

Mean Scores for Music Forma ts by Ag e

__________________________________________________________________________________

Age

__________________________________________________________________________________

Music Format

60s/ 70s music

Pop ular hits

Hea vy metal

Soft roc k

Jazz/ new ag e

Reggae

Prog ressive

n =

18

2.70A

2.27A

3.55A

2.70ABC

3.59A

3.41ABC

3.54A

515

19

2.65A

2.44A

3.61A

2.83ABC

3.52A

3.56B

3.54A

515

20

2.38AB

2.66A

3.77A

2.97B

3.48A

3.54ABC

3.54A

515

21

2.32AB

2.64A

3.83A

2.52C

3.29A

3.54ABC

3.58A

515

22

2.06B

3.19B

4.01A

2.77ABC

2.80B

3.07C

3.08A

515

F

4.92**

6.92**

1.84

2.17

6.50**

2.18

1.92

__________________________________________________________________________________Note :Cell entries a re m ea n sc ores based on m usic p refe renc e rang ng from 1=mo st favo rite

to 5=least favorite.

In ea ch row , mea ns c od ed with a sam e letter do not d iffer significa ntly a t the p


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Radio Survey

Tab le 10

Mean Scores for Music Forma ts by Gender

__________________________________________________________________________________

Gender

__________________________________________________________________________________

Music Format

60s/ 70s music

Pop ular hits

Hea vy metal

Soft roc k

Jazz/ new ag e

Reggae

Prog ressive

n =

Male

2.24

3.04

3.51

2.90

3.31

3.48

3.45

510

Female

2.63

2.26

3.88

2.67

3.40

3.43

3.47

510

F

13.50**

48.00**

10.04**

5.51*

0.60

0.17

0.02

__________________________________________________________________________________Note :Cell entries a re m ea n sc ores based on m usic p refe renc e rang ng from 1=mo st favo rite

to 5=least favorite.

F-tests result from one -wa y ana lyses of va rianc e a mong the tw o g roup me ans for eac hvariable.

*p


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Radio Survey

Table 11Association Between Favorite Station and Age

"What is your favorite radio station in this area?"

Age

Station 18 19 20 21 22+

n=105 n=105 n=75 n=69 n=4926.1% 26.1% 18.6% 17.1% 12.2%

WAOR 35.2% 40.0% 56.0% 60.9% 65.3%

WCHR-1 38.1% 35.2% 36.0% 24.6% 28.6%

WCHR-2 26.7% 24.8% 8.0% 14.5% 6.1%

29.59***

Association Between Favorite Station and Gender

Gender

Male Female n=151 n=24737.9% 62.1%

WAOR 68.2% 36.8%

WCHR-1 23.2% 40.1%

WCHR-2 8.6% 23.1%

38.02***


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Radio Survey

*** p < .001

1990 BEA Boston WFAL

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