In New Zealand (and in most other countries) the amount of radio receivers is nearly equal to the amount of people in the population. But how many people listen to the radio to actually get their news?

In New Zealand, the number radio receivers doubles the amount of television sets, and nearly triples that of the number of computers. Theoretically, since nearly every person in the country has access to a radio, this would be the best way to get information out to the public, but is it? Think of the radio sitting in your bedroom, and the one in your living room, the portable radio you had to have as a kid, even the one in your kitchen if you have one – when was the last time you actually used it? Many people won’t be able to remember. In some homes, the only time a radio is used is to keep the dogs companies when the families go out – obviously, pets aren’t Radio New Zealand’s target audience. Also, nearly every car on the planet has some kind of radio installed, so everyone driving somewhere should be listening to the radio, but again, they aren’t. In today’s world, most people have their mobile devices attached to their car’s speakers and simply stream the music off of their phone. To many younger consumers, the only radio they use is actually “Internet Radio” (Pandora, for example), and if they needed a news update, many would pull over and check Twitter or some other news source from their phone before even thinking to turn on the radio to get an update. Many commuters find that they aren’t even listening to the audio if they are tuned into a radio station; they are simply using it for background noise.

Alternatively, many people rely on traffic and weather reports throughout the work day, especially on their commutes to and from work; it is the most convenient way to get updates, but many people are only paying attention to their radios for the small period of time that they need to be, and then zone out or change the channel once they have gotten the information they need.

There may be millions of radio receivers out there, but a very limited amount of people are actually using them to obtain their news. Since the introduction of mobile internet, radio has been slowly becoming phased out. Many people will always go to a computer or their mobile device to get a news update or listen to music. That all being said, radio still is, and will remain for long time, a very reliable, and simple way to obtain information and entertainment.

Links:  http://www.pressreference.com/Ma-No/New-Zealand.html