“A rádio que temos” é um blogue de João Paulo Meneses, de apoio ao trabalho escrito do 2º ano do doutoramento em comunicação na Universidade de Vigo. Pretende identificar a rádio portuguesa e, já agora, opô-la, a nível de formatos, à rádio de alguma Europa.

A dificuldade de catalogar formatos

September 21, 2005

So how much of radio listening is listening to news?

The answer is not as simple as one might think.

BIAfn data indicate that 3 percent of the nation’s 13,000 radio stations (or 348) list Talk as their primary format. Some 1,000 have chosen to list their primary format as News (8 percent). We cannot ignore the effect on the findings of self-declared formats and the lack of overall format guidelines. Anecdotal information suggests that many of these News stations might more properly be considered Talk or Information stations.4

In addition, many stations mix news and talk or news and classical music. Others listed as Spanish-language stations do news in Spanish. These format designations just indicate what represents the majority of the broadcast day, but do not account for what may make up some or even a large minority of the broadcast day” (nota: 2002 data from Arbitron list 1,999 stations as News/Talk formats. As noted earlier, there are some discrepancies between numbers cited by Arbitron and those included in BIAfn’s data).

55 minutos ao volante (EUA)

Tied to listening to the same stations for the most part, data gathered over the last five years reveal little change in where people listen to the radio. The lone shift here has been a steady climb in car listening over the past five years. Why? The most likely explanation is cultural. People are driving more. Data from the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics indicate that the average driver spends 55 minutes behind the wheel every day“. (nota: 2. The statistics bureau does not have trend data on this figure. But its data do indicate that that 87 percent of people use their personal vehicle, as opposed to public transportation or some other mode of travel, when making daily travel. Daily travel, as the bureau defines it, includes commuting, shopping and errands and social or recreational trips (visiting friends, relatives, etc.). )