MediaWeek: Teen Listenership Continues Falloff as Internet Beckons

Radio stations and networks are losing young listeners, reports Research Director Inc., posing a threat to long-term listenership prospects and indicating that, like network television, the medium may be experiencing a rut in programming at just the wrong time. The music industry's hit-oriented distribution system seeks to make fewer, higher-margin hits to make better profits, but the diversity and the overall quality of the music suffers. At the same time, the Internet is offering more and more diversity and choice to teens, including in the music category.

Three years ago, teens 12 to 17 spend 21 hours a week listening to radio. Now, boys are tuning in for about 13 hours and girls about 16 hours. A Harris Interactive and Teenage Research Unlimited study found that teens consider the Internet their "primary" medium, with TV coming in second and radio third.