Radio listening

The lockout ordered by CBC management last August cost Canada's public broadcaster a large share of its listening audience, according to data from an annual survey covering more than 90,000 radio listeners.

The lockout, which ran from August 15 to October 11, coincided with the survey in which listeners filled in a log-type questionnaire over an eight-week period from September 5 to October 30. Listeners were split into groups, each of which filled in their log for a week.

The results show that the CBC captured a share of only 8.8% of the total audience during this period after holding steady at around 11% during the past four years.

The decline pushed the public broadcaster from third place in overall format ranking, where it had been for three straight years, to fifth place. It was leapfrogged by country music and talk radio.

This year's survey will also be conducted during September and October, so it is not known yet whether the CBC has recouped its losses.

On the whole, radio listening remained stable in 2005 for the third straight year. Canadians on average tuned in for 19.1 hours a week last fall, over an hour below the peak of 20.5 hours in the autumn of 1999.

Residents of Prince Edward Island were the most avid listeners at 21.2 hours a week, four more hours a week than their counterparts in British Columbia, where listening was lowest.

CBC listening declined in all provinces except Quebec

Public radio's audience declined in all provinces except Quebec, where its share remained stable. That is likely because the lockout did not apply to employees in Quebec or at the Moncton office.

This entire loss was made up by commercial radio, which captured nearly 85% of the total listening time compared to 82% in 2004.

The steepest drop was registered by listeners in Prince Edward Island, who devoted 9.6% of their listening time to public radio, down substantially from 25.1% in 2004. Country music largely benefited from this situation, capturing nearly half (47.6%) of the total listening time in Prince Edward Island.

The lockout's impact was also clearly reflected along linguistic lines. The entire decrease was registered by English-language public radio.

The share for French-language public radio remained stable at 2.7% compared to 2004, while English-language public radio's share was 6.0%, down from 8.5% in 2004.

Among age groups, the oldest, aged 65 and over, posted the steepest drop in the time spent listening to the CBC. Among senior men aged 65 and over, the time spent listening to public radio went from 21.5% in 2004 to 17.2% in 2005. Among senior women, it fell from 22.9% to 18.3%.

By education level, the largest decline in CBC listening time occurred among respondents who had completed a university degree, going from 28.2% in 2004 to 22.4% in 2005. Even so, it is still clear that public radio's audience share increases with age and education level.

Adult contemporary music captured one-quarter of nation's listening time

Overall, adult contemporary music was still the first choice of Canadians on the radio. In the fall of 2005, this station format captured one-quarter of Canadians' listening time, followed by gold/oldies/rock (14.9%).

Country music and talk radio were tied for third place at just over 10% each. Third spot had been occupied since 2002 by the CBC, which fell to fifth.

Public radio's decline enabled the contemporary music format to slip into fourth place. It captured 9.5% of Canadians' listening time, up from 8.5% a year earlier.

The choice of station format also varied from province to province. Country music was first choice in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

In New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, adult contemporary music was number one. Talk radio stations were the most popular among listeners in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Teen listening stable after several years of decline

Among the various groups based on age and sex, teenage males aged 12 to 17 reduced their listening time the most during the past five years.

In the fall of 2005, they reported listening for an average of 8.6 hours per week, down from 10.1 hours per week in 2001. However, their listening time appears to have stabilized in the past three years.

Alberta teens listened to radio for 10 hours a week, the highest of any province.

Contemporary music remained the first choice of teens, whose listening time for this format was unchanged (26%) compared to 2004. As a result, the increase in the listening time for this format was wholly attributable to adults aged 18 and over.

This stability was also observed among both men and women aged 18 and over. The gap between adult and teen listening times remains very wide (adult listening is more than double teen listening), but it has stopped expanding.

Available on CANSIM: tables 503-0001 to 503-0005.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3153.

Selected details from the Radio Listening Survey are now available in the publication Radio Listening: Data Tables (87F0007XIE, free) from the Our Products and Services page of our website. Data from this survey are also available by province. Users can request special tabulations on a cost-recovery basis.

To obtain more information, order data or enquire about the methods, concepts or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-800-307-3382; fax: 613-951-9040; culture@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.