Radio Makes People "Happy"

By Kellie J. Lala

A client of ours sent me an interesting article from England.  A new study from across the pond concluded that “listening to the radio makes people happier than watching TV or surfing the Internet”.  I knew I loved London and Princess Diana for some reason!  J  Anyway, 1000 Brits participated in the study using their smartphones to respond to questions regarding their media consumption.  Radio is a life support system for listeners.  We tell you the weather and if your child needs a coat while waiting for the bus.  We give you updates on the traffic issues on I-380.  We alert you to potentially harmful weather (we have real live people in the building 24/7/365 to do just that). 

Ask yourself-why do you listen to the radio?  The study’s participants said that the whole idea of listening to the radio was to “gain companionship and, at the same time, enjoyment”.  We all like to listen to music.  Music makes us feel good.  You select the station playing the music that best suites our tastes.  That is why there are so many different stations around-a nice variety that will serve the mass population. Radio is much like ice cream.  “You choose the station that tastes best to you-the flavor you like the best is going to give you the most enjoyment”.  Radio also supports people’s daily activities.  Getting you up in the morning, motivating and keeping you company when you are cleaning the house and a friendly voice in the car on those long road trips.  The study also said that radio is more “resilient” than ever.  Radio continues to “embrace social media and smart phone technology to interact with their listener”.  Radio has the ability to drive it’s over the air users to digital platforms thus making the advertisers happy.  In fact, go to http://www.kzia.com/ and see how you can download an app for your smart phone and Z102.9 can go wherever you take your phone.  How cool is that? 

“Radio is such an integral part of our daily lives that perhaps we’ve forgotten how it truly affects us.  A lot of new media gets the attention and buzz, but people use radio more and more every year”.  Thanks for tuning in!

(Article in the Huffington Post 7/20/11)