Radio's Influence Changing

This post, On the Radio: New listening habits alter playing field, by David Hinckley, is focused on radio's power in terms of music; but the information (not actual numbers) likely represents changes in talk too:

...another survey by Coleman Insights illustrates the changing landscape.

Coleman surveyed 14- to 17-year-olds, who are obviously critical because they're the listeners and consumers of tomorrow, and found 78% listened to radio every day.

That's strong. But it's lower than it used to be, and the survey found 84% listened to music on a computer, iPod or MP3 every day. That's the first time "alternative" sources have topped radio.

In another Coleman study of teenagers, 41% said theiriPods or MP3 players are the first place they go to hear music. About 27% said computers and 22% said FM radio.

So teenagers who all used to listen to the radio now increasingly find new music through Facebook or MySpace or P2P file-swapping. The radio is still important, but now it's just one thread in the fabric.

You may be tired of so many "changes in media" talk, but I'm building towards something; so keep reading.