Video killed the radio star? Not in Israel

Some 70% of youth listen to the radio every day, according to a survey released by the Second Authority for TV and Radio.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Old radio (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Old radio
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Some seventy percent of youth listen to the radio every day, according to a survey released Monday by the Second Authority for Television and Radio.
The survey was released at the FM+ Radio Conference – Receiving the Future, at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (IDC).
The findings revealed that the preferred station among youth, at 56 percent, is GalGalatz, a basically pop-music station operated by the IDF, followed by the original Army Radio, at 30 percent. In addition, around half the youth surveyed said they listen to at least one regional radio station.
A majority of youth, 63 percent, listens primarily to music shows, while 30 percent listen to the news and 19 percent listen to satire and humor shows.
More than half the youth, 56 percent, think it is important for their regional radio station to address events in their community and 62 percent say they are bothered by curses and obscenities on the radio.
In addition, the findings indicated that while a majority of youth listens to the radio every day, 52 percent of youth listen to the radio an average of an hour or less per day.
“Despite the prevailing wisdom that youth use new-media more in order to consume their favorite content, the survey revealed that the radio in general and in particular regional radio still constitute a central means of programing for youth,” said attorney Shai Babed, director-general of the Second Authority on Monday.
Babed also said that the Second Authority would look into the “proper regulation of radio broadcasting platforms for future technologies in general and the internet in particular.”
According to the survey, there are three times during the day when all youth listen to the radio: between 6 and 10 a.m., between 2 and 6 p.m., and between 6 and 10 p.m. During each of these time frames youth listen to the radio from 15 to 45 minutes.
Furthermore, the findings indicate that a majority of youth, 57 percent, listen to the radio in the car or on the bus, while 27 percent listen to a home radio, and 18 percent listen on their smartphones and similarly on their computers.
In addition, 56 percent of respondents said they listen to the radio without any further action, such as sitting around or traveling in a car, while 21 percent of youth say they listen to the radio while surfing the Internet and 21 percent while they are doing homework.
“The radio in the world is in the midst of a tremendous revolution, that Israel is late to join.
Radio changes require an academic discussion of social issues that arise due to these changes, and we are discussing and will continue to discuss these issues at school,” said Dr. Noam Lemelshtrich Latar, dean of the Sammy Ofer School of Communications.
The survey was conducted by Midgam Research and Consulting from the 23rd to 26th of March via an Internet questionnaire given to 600 youths aged 12 to 18 throughout the country.
The findings reflect a 4% margin of error.