iPod Nano gives radio a second chance among youth according to Vision Critical survey

This report (courtesy of Radio Business Report) was put together by Wellington Financial Fund III portfolio co. Vision Critical Communications:

Two-thirds (66%) of Americans aged 18-34 show an active interest in the pause-and-rewind feature of the new FM tuner. The interactive features of the FM tuner in Apple’s new iPod Nano show potential to energize interest among younger demographics who are the heaviest users of mp3 players. This is one of the main findings of an online survey of 1,185 American adults conducted by the Radio Research division of Vision Critical Communications. Parallel surveys were also conducted among Canadian and British adults showing similar results.

Key Findings:

The interactive features of the FM tuner generate considerable interest—particularly among 18-34 year-olds. When presented with the specific features of the FM tuner:

47% of Americans aged 18 and older say they are “very interested” in the ability to pause and rewind songs they hear on the radio. This rises to 66% among 18-34 year-olds.

The opportunity to see the name of the song using the Nano’s RDS display also has strong appeal. In all, 41% of Americans and 55% of 18-34 year-olds express an active interest in this feature.

Consumers show somewhat less interest in the ability to “tag” songs for future purchase. 28% of Americans aged 18 and older are “very interested” in this feature, but this increases to 45% of 18-34 year olds.

Of the five features from the new Ipod Nano that were presented in the survey, American adults rank an FM tuner #3 in terms of overall interest. American adults in general show greater active interest in the Nano’s larger display screen (with 46% indicating they are “very” interested) and the new video camera (45% “very” interested) than in an FM tuner (34%) when the tuner is presented on its own prior to mentioning its specific features. Interest in an FM tuner is however well above the active interest expressed in the voice recorder (21%) and the pedometer (17%).

Interest in and usage of mp3 players and the iPod Nano are highest among 18-34 year-olds.

32% of 18-34 year-olds report listening “daily” to mp3s. This compares to only 14% of all Americans aged 18 and older. 15% of 18-34 year-olds say they currently use an iPod Nano, vs. 8% of American adults in general.

What Does This Mean for Radio?

The new Nano will put FM radio into the hands of more people in more places. Most important, it puts FM radios into the hands of younger demographics where radio’s distribution advantage is already fading.

Being able to receive FM by no means guarantees tuning. Though many potential buyers of the new Nano are interested in an FM tuner, others will see it as just another add-on feature to what is essentially a device for listening to their personal music collection. Results from the parallel UK survey reinforce the limited impact on tuning when an FM tuner on its own is just one of many features—though 50% of British adults report having a mobile or smartphone that plays FM stations, only 4% of those with FM-enabled mobile phones say they listen to FM daily on their phone.

The interactive features will be most beneficial to stations that play to FM radio’s ‘discovery’ advantage. The pause and rewind, song display, and song tagging features all will be most effective for stations that focus on playing new or otherwise undiscovered music, especially if they target younger demos.

MRM