Survey: Radio Lags As A First Responder

Being a "radio guy' researcher Mark Kassof says radio is his first choice during an emergency.  However, he's also a research guy and consumers set him straight in a recent survey.

In a telephone survey of 18-64′s in the U.S.(conducted 2/26-3/1), Kossolf&Co.  asked 707 respondent:

Let’s talk about sources of information about emergencies that could affect a local community – like severe weather, flooding, power outages, gas leaks, chemical spills, fires, tainted water supplies and major accidents. Where would you go to FIRST for information in the event of an emergency? Would you turn to…

Then, they were  read six choices: AM or FM radio? The internet? Newspapers? Smartphone apps? TV? Or some other source of information? The first five were rotated to avoid order bias.

Demographically, Kassof found a huge divide between 18-44′s and 45-64′s, but relative to TV and new tech, not radio. Half of 45-64′s would turn first to TV, while only 28% of 18-44′s would. A third of 18-44′s would go to the internet, while only 14% of 45-64′s would. And use of smartphone apps among the younger group is almost double that of the older group.

Radio’s demo divide is based on gender, not age.  Men are more likely to turn to radio during emergencies than women.

Read More Now