Turning up the dial

As part of its work supporting media agencies to navigate Aotearoa’s audio landscape, The Radio Bureau has commissioned the first ever New Zealand version of The Infinite Dial, a long-running survey of digital media consumption undertaken by Edison Research.

StopPress speaks with Larry Rosin, Edison Research President, and Peter Richardson, General Manager of The Radio Bureau, about the methodology behind the survey, what the research aims to understand and how New Zealand compares on a global scale.

Running since 1998 in the US, The Infinite Dial NZ offers a glimpse into the online digital audio and device ownership of New Zealanders as well as online platforms and technologies used, allowing for direct comparison between New Zealand, Australia, the US, the UK and Canada.

“[It is] a survey designed to evaluate, and ideally over time, track the development of different forms of audio, radio, digital audio types like streaming, brands within streaming, podcasts and whatever else comes along,” says Larry Rosin, Edison Research President.

In the third quarter of 2022, Edison Research surveyed a total of 1,385 people across New Zealand aged 16 years and older. This dataset was then weighted to a national 16+ population figure.

Wanting to get more of an understanding of how radio fits into New Zealand’s consumption, The Radio Bureau enlisted Edison Research to conduct 351 interviews via mobile phones and 1,034 conducted online.

“We are of the belief that radio is the largest part of that audio zone and studies prove that. The added benefit is that we can track this against Australia, Canada and the US and UK which are the typical markets we compare ourselves to,” Peter Richardson, General Manager of The Radio Bureau says.

When the research began, internet radio was very new and there was a desire to understand how many people had heard of it, used it, or even had internet access back then Larry says.

“It created tremendous interest. It seemed we had tapped into a hot topic, so it became an annual thing. Audio is a very dynamic space, there is a lot going on. Tracking isn’t terribly interesting when nothing ever changes, but this is a dynamic space, so it’s proved to be of great interest to people because they want to see what the changes are.”

This type of surveyed information is highly valuable as it offers a realistic representation of what is actually happening in a particular space.

“It’s part of human nature that people take their own personal experience, maybe their small circle of friends or family, and assume everyone is like that. Research is helpful to get away from your extrapolation, your personal experience or your personal guess or beliefs and have something tangible to rest upon.”

It is particularly helpful for audio planners and buyers who as Larry says, are often young urban professionals and can fall into the habit of assuming “everyone is just like them” which is often not accurate.

“It can really be an eye opener. Some have a belief that nobody listens to the radio anymore. This study and this research refutes that.”

Click here to learn more about The Infinite Dial New Zealand research and keep an eye out for more articles published daily across Radio Week (November 21-25), as part of our exclusive content series in partnership with The Radio Bureau.

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