End of lockdowns, holidays, road trips will influence summer media habits

GfK’s fifth annual nationwide 2022 summer listening survey coming up in January 2022 will examine the radio and media consumption habits of Australians this summer as they emerge from a year of lockdowns and travel restrictions.

The research, commissioned by Commercial Radio Australia (CRA), will survey consumers’ use of radio in both metropolitan and regional Australia over the summer holiday period as the nation reopens.

“The 2021 summer survey showed radio listening stayed strong as Australians spent more time at and around their homes due to travel restrictions,” says CRA’s Joan Warner.

“This summer, we anticipate that more Australians will be listening to radio while out and about in the car, and it will be interesting to see changes in media consumption patterns after months of lockdowns and virtual meetings, as relaxation, digital detox, holidays away and road trips come back to the fore.”

GfK’s last Radio Insights Summer Listening Report conducted in January 2021 found that Australians are more likely to listen to media than watch it over summer. Nine out of 10 radio listeners said they listened to radio as much or more over the hotter months, a figure that has been consistent over the previous four years.

Ninety-three per cent of listeners consider radio a valuable source of information over summer and nine out of 10 agreed that radio provides ideas or inspiration about things to see and do.

Respondents also said radio made them feel happy while they were off work and enhanced time spent with family and friends. Sixty-two percent said they also tuned in to radio at their holiday destination.

Radio fulfills an important role for those alone over the holiday period. Seventy percent of listeners said radio is a “great companion” and 57% agreed radio makes them feel more connected to the local community.

The 2021 GfK Radio Insights Summer Listening report was conducted online with a nationally representative sample of 1272 Australian respondents aged 10+.

The 2021 report infographic.

The 2022 GfK Radio Insights Summer Listening report will be conducted in January and released in early February 2022.

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