Radio still riding high in Singapore

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While radio may be falling out of favor in some countries, it is still popular in Singapore. On the whole, listeners in the Asian country continue to favor this medium, it seems, even if younger people prefer platforms like Spotify and YouTube.

Listening to the radio is part of everyday life for many people in Singapore, according to a recent Nielsen report. In fact, 70% of Singaporeans over the age of 15 listen to the radio at least once a month for entertainment, news or out of habit. This trend is even more pronounced among Baby Boomers and Gen X listeners.

Nearly 80% of Gen X respondents, born between 1960 and 1980, tune in to this medium, compared to only 67% of Baby Boomers. But the older generation spends more time listening. Singaporeans over 55 tune in for 142 minutes a week, compared to 123 minutes for 40-to-54-year-olds. That’s still more than Generation Z listeners, who spend just 50 minutes a week listening to radio.

Radio and young people

While the vast majority of Singaporeans favor traditional FM receivers, more and more users are tuning in digitally. A quarter of those surveyed by Nielsen use apps to listen to their favorite stations, and 11% do so on websites. Surprisingly, this trend is not driven by younger people, but by Millennials (38%) and Gen Xers (41%).

Generation Z, on the other hand, prefers music streaming platforms and other “non-radio sources.” This is the case for 88% of respondents, compared to 57% of Gen Xers and 23% of Baby Boomers.

“For younger and future generations who will be increasing digitally savvy, competition for their share of time will be highly competitive within the audio space with multiple options and audio format available to them,” Nielsen notes in the study. JB

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