Research/Audience Data

Public Radio News Audience Profile

The Public Radio news audience is well-educated and diverse. While they pay attention to the news and the world around them, they also participate in a variety of hobbies and interests.

In general, public radio news listeners are:

• Slightly more male (53%) than female (47%)
• Between the ages of 25-54 (62%)
• Regarding academics, 68% have a college degree or beyond, which is 170% more likely than average, and 31% have a post graduate degree or attend graduate school, 280% more likely than average
• Married (66%), 17% more likely than the average U.S. adult

Public Radio News listeners receive their news in variety of ways.

• 40% watch CNN
• 17% read Time magazine
• More than four times as likely as the general U.S. adult to have seen a New York Times daily newspaper in the past week

These news listeners have global interests.

• 42% have traveled abroad in the past three years, 69% more likely than the general U.S. population
• 92% say they like to learn about art, culture and history, 31% more likely than the general U.S. population

Public radio news listeners have a variety of interests other than news, such as:

• Backpacking/hiking - they are more than twice as likely to go backpacking or hiking than the general U.S. adult population
• Internet usage - 36% are heavy users of the Internet, 83% higher than the general population.
• Exercise - 57% get regular exercise, which is 38% above average.
• Museums - 30% like to visit museums, more than twice as likely
• Live theater - 26% enjoy attending live theater, also more than twice as likely

Source: Profile 2008, MRI Doublebase 2007, Base: Total U.S. Adults. Produced by NPR Audience and Corporate Research.