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Lesley

Grey Matter

10.23.7

The Podcast Poll Results

In all honesty, I had no clue how often people listen to internet radio shows. That was the reason for the poll I have been running at The Debris Field and Beyond the Dial. I was totally pleasantly surprised!

The question was: I listen to internet radio - 1) almost daily 2) once a week 3) once a month 4) only when something sounds really interesting.

A huge 83% (77 people) answered almost daily, 3% (3 people) were weekly listeners, 4% (4 people) once a month and 10% (9 people) listen only when something sounds really interesting.

I was not sure what to answer to my own poll. At the time I was thinking that some weeks I listen almost daily and sometimes it is more like once a week. I decided to answer once a week, but as I thought about that after, it was the wrong answer. I didn't take into account that I listen to c2c on streamlink almost daily (though not normally the entire show) or that I listen to Alex Jones almost daily on WiFi radio.

I was really surprised that so many people are almost daily listeners. Really I had expected that most people listen to their favorite show once a week and probably didn't listen to much else. I was way off on that one. It makes sense though. Most people have Ipods or something like an Ipod, they may have long commutes to work or like me listen when they are doing other boring crap, like house cleaning and using the treadmill. Since most internet shows are completely free you can load up your Ipod with dozens of different shows, if one is not what you were hoping for you can just skip to the next. What could be better?

In my short time of doing the Beyond the Dial blog, I have discovered that you really can listen to a new show daily. Although listening to one show daily (I am only referring only to esoteric shows) would not let you listen to every show out there.

I think one of the things I like best about internet radio is that I can listen whenever I want and wherever I want. There is a total freedom with mp3 files that regular radio will never be able to provide and when they do provide it, like mp3s of c2c, you have to pay for it.

I could go on another rant about how regular radio is dying, but I have done that in the past and it is still many years away. For now there are always going to be those who can't afford a computer, or cable/satellite connections, or even those who don't like using computers and they will keep it alive.

I probably should have asked how many people never listen to internet radio, but I didn't really care about those who don't. My goal was to find out the listening habits of those that do. Learning that so many people are almost daily listeners also helped me to figure out why there are so many esoteric radio shows, it is because there is a huge demand for them.

Apparently it isn't just me. Coast to Coast is no longer enough for those of us with a true interest in such subjects. Thankfully there are many willing to fill that need. The best part is that it can only keep growing and getting better!

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