Country is America’s No. 1 radio format, thanks to the genre’s banner performance in 2013. In fact, according to Nielsen’s State of the Media: Audio Today report, the Country music format set all-time highs last year for share of the listening audience in both portable people meter (PPM) markets and nationwide. And much of Country’s success is coming from younger listeners.
Turning our attention to Nielsen’s diary markets, in the past few years, the country audience under 25 years old has consistently grown. Over the past two years, Country’s audience share grew 17 percent with teens (12-17 year-olds) and 16 percent with young adults (18-24). This bumped the format to first from second on the ranker.
| Rank | 2011 (share) | 2013 (share) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pop CHR (18.2) | Country (19.1) | |
| 2 | Country (16.4) | Pop CHR (17.4) | |
| 3 | Rhythmic CHR (9.6) | Rhythmic CHR (9.1) | |
| 4 | Urban Contemporary (7.2) | Urban Contemporary (7.7) | |
| 5 | Classic Rock (5.2) | Classic Rock (4.9) | |
| CHR—Contemporary Hits Radio. Source: Nielsen |
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This week a who’s who of Country radio programmers, marketers and talent is gathered in Nashville for the annual Country Radio Seminar. Nielsen is there too, and we’re presenting our analysis of the Country format in the 200-plus diary markets surveyed by Nielsen all across the country.