Radio listening preferences

What was done

Why it was done

1. International School of Geneva Junior section - Pregny

2. Crossroads church, Ferney Voltaire

Response rate

Type of people represented

Age group spread

Where they live

Male / female spread

Are the two groups mutually exclusive?

Proportion to listen to neither WRG nor R74

Proportion who listen to both

Proportion who listen to WRG and not R74

Proportion who listen to R74 and not WRG

Comparison of school and church listeners

Comparison by age group

Proportion of WRG listeners who can name an advertiser

Proportion of R74 listeners who can name an advertiser

Most commonly mentioned advertisers WRG

Most commonly mentioned advertisers R74

Attitude / approach / programmes

Music

Local and international news

Comparison of school and church listeners

WRG - what people like most and least

R74 - what people like most and least

Appendix 1 - school questionnaire

Appendix 2 - church questionnaire

Appendix 3 - Listener comments - complete list

Summary of project

A comparative survey was made of listener opinions of WRG-FM and Radio 74 in the English speaking Geneva community.

Two similar questionnaires were distributed about radio listening preferences (see Appendices 1 and 2). One was to parents and staff in the junior section of the International School (Pregny campus). The other was to members of the congregation of Crossroads church, Ferney Voltaire.

It was done for 2 reasons:

1. Personal interest. In the relatively small community of the international population of Geneva, I think it is important that the radio stations are kept informed of what their listeners think, so they have the opportunity of better providing what the community wants. It is in everyone's interest that their listening tastes are catered for.

NB I have not included my own opinions in the survey. I did not fill in a questionnaire. I believe I have reported fairly and accurately what other people said, without bias.

2. Crossroads church, like many other community organisations, uses radio publicity on WRG and Radio 74. It wanted to know which was most likely to be effective in reaching a wide audience.

Crossroads is a member of the WRG Community Services Association. As such it wants to be a satisfied advertiser, as well as connecting with interested listeners.

There are no formal ties between Crossroads church and Radio 74 although there have been loose connections over the years. Crossroads is free to provide announcements whenever it wishes on Radio 74, and from time to time a small donation is made from the church for this service. A short message from the pastor is broadcast once a week on Radio 74.

Description of who was surveyed

Questionnaires were given to each child in the school to take home on Monday 19 January 1998. Separate sections were available for each parent to fill in separately (see Appendix 1). About 115 families are represented in the school, giving perhaps 170 available parents to complete the questionnaire (there are some one-parent families and also many have a parent who travels extensively). Some questionnaires may have been completed by staff members.

31 questionnaires were completed and returned, giving a response rate of 18%.

This response rate is somewhat disappointing, but may be explained by the following:

- children or parents losing the paper on the way home, at home or coming back to school

- lack of interest in doing non-essential paper-work

- people who listen to neither radio station probably felt they had nothing to say of importance

Children at the school are aged between 5 and 11.

Children in the school are mostly taught in English, though have French lessons each day. The range of nationalities in the school is enormous - about 40 - 50. The parents wish their children to be instructed in English - however, for many, English is not their mother tongue, and English is not the language used at home. For some, it would be natural to want to listen to English-language radio; for others, French would be preferred. Others are not fluent enough in either language to appreciate radio.

School fees are high. Therefore the student population is represented mostly by children of parents who work in the international organisations and companies who contribute towards school fees. A few high income families attend the school and pay the full school fees themselves. One could suppose that these are the sort of people that advertisers would really like to target.

Of the respondents from school:

7% were in the under 35 group

80% were in the 35 - 50 age group

13% were aged over 50

From the school address list, the distribution of children is:

64% live in the canton of Geneva

20% live in the Pays de Gex

16% live in Vaud

Of those living in Geneva canton, many are clustered around Chambésy / Bellevue and the city centre. Almost none come from the other side of the river (Rive Gauche), as they are served by the other International school campus on Rte de Chêne.

This question was not included on the questionnaire. However, one would assume that a majority of respondents would be the mothers, ie the one who empties the child's school bag.

Questionnaires were included in the service news-sheet on Sunday 25 January 1998. These were collected after the service, when people were directly encouraged to complete them.

About 250 people attend the morning service, with approximately 150 of these being adults. Only adults were asked to complete the questionnaire.

40 completed questionnaires were collected. The response rate was therefore 27%.

The church is an interdenominational Protestant church attended by people of all ages and from many walks of life and of many nationalities. The morning service is conducted in English. The current pastor is American. Although many of the congregation are British or American, no single nationality dominates the church membership.

The most common sector of people represented is families with children. The music in the service is mostly contemporary, with use of guitars, electric keyboard and drums.

Many of the congregation work in the international organisations and with international companies. They are often in Geneva on short or medium term contracts. It is usual for 20% to 30% of the congregation to move elsewhere to work each year.

Of the respondents from church:

22.5% were in the under 35 group

60% were in the 35 - 50 age group

17.5% were aged over 50

Of the 156 families listed in the current church address list:

48% live in the Pays de Gex

33% live in Geneva canton

15% live in the canton of Vaud

4% live in the Haute Savoie

There was probably a majority of females who completed the questionnaire. However, the male-female ratio was probably more equal than for the school responses.

The school and church groups are not completely mutually exclusive. A handful of families are represented in both. However, I am aware of only one respondent who completed both questionnaires. There could be others, but probably no more than two or three.

The question posed was:

"During the past two weeks, have you listened to either of the following radio stations (even for a brief period)?

WRG-FM (World Radio Geneva) Yes No

Radio 74 Yes No"

It is presumed that most people's listening habits are fairly regular, and that they reported what their usual pattern was. No attempt was made to decide the proportions of listening time devoted to each radio station. Many listeners who listen to both stations tune in to a station specifically for certain transmissions.

Respondents from school

23% listen to neither WRG nor R74

26% listen to both WRG and R74

48% listen to WRG but not R74

3% listen to R74 but not WRG

Considering only radio listeners:

96% listen to WRG some of the time

37.5% listen to R74 some of the time

From the school respondents, it is perhaps remarkable that only 77% listen to any English language radio. In fact the number of radio listeners is probably considerably less than this, because the non-radio listeners probably felt no need or desire to return the questionnaire.

Respondents from church

12.5% listen to neither WRG nor R74

40% listen to both WRG and R74

37.5% listen to WRG, but not R74

10% listen to R74, but not WRG

Considering only radio listeners:

89% listen to WRG some of the time

57% listen to R74 some of the time

It is noticeable that Radio 74 has a stronger following among church attendees than non-church attendees, as could be expected from its religious stance. However, even of Crossroads radio listeners, more listen to WRG than to R74.

The majority of respondents in both groups were in the 35 - 50 age group. To examine the different habits by age, the two sample groups of school and church were combined.

Of the people questioned in the young group, many were getting close to "middle" age group. Also, all of those in the "older" age group were not too far past the 50 year mark. A comparison of views of the under 25s and over 60s would show much more striking differences.

Of the "young" group (total respondents = 11):

3 listen to neither WRG nor R74

2 listen to both WRG and R74

6 listen to WRG but not R74

Therefore, of the radio listeners in the young group:

100% listen to WRG

25% listen to R74

Of the "older" group (total respondents = 11):

2 listen to neither WRG nor R74

4 listen to both WRG and R74

3 listen to WRG but not R74

2 listen to R74 but not WRG

Therefore, of the radio listeners in the older age group:

78% listen to WRG

67% listen to R74

As could be expected from the style of music and general approach of the two radio stations, WRG is more popular with young people than older folk. However, it is worth noticing that even in the older age group, more listen to WRG than R74.

Advertising provides the life-blood of WRG. For Radio 74, advertising revenue supplies a maximum of 20% of its income, the rest coming from listener-supporters. It is interesting to compare how effective each station is in communicating its advertising messages. Advertisers pay approximately ten times as much for a similar advertising schedule on WRG as on Radio 74.

On each both school and church questionnaires, respondents were asked:

"Do you recall any advertisements on the radio?

WRG - name of advertiser:

Radio 74 - name of advertiser: "

Of the school WRG listeners:

10 out of 23 - ie 43% - named an advertiser,

13 out of 23 - ie 57% - could not name any advertiser

Of the church WRG listeners:

14 out of 31 - ie 45% - named an advertiser

17 out of 31 - ie 55% - could not name an advertiser

Combining school and church WRG listeners:

44% could name an advertiser

56% could not name an advertiser

Combining school and church WRG listeners, this advertiser was mentioned 5 times:

Jim's British Minimarket

These advertisers were mentioned 4 times:

Pirelli

Easyjet

The following were mentioned twice:

BTL

British Airways

City Green

Sunrise Telecom

The following advertisers were mentioned a single time:

Verbier / 4 Vallées; Bookworm; North Weald Satellite; Wall St. English School; Elm Books; Pellichet; Geneva Rugby; Bijoux Tricourts, Balexert

The following were mentioned, but I did not consider them to be valid advertisers:

WRG ski bus

WRG competition

Pelletier ski

"The tyre company that sponsors the ski report"

English language courses

Satellite

Reuter's

Of the school R74 listeners:

4 out of 9 - ie 44% - named an advertiser,

5 out of 9 - ie 56% - could not name any advertiser

Of the church R74 listeners:

13 out of 20 - ie 65% - named an advertiser

7 out of 20 - ie 35% - could not name an advertiser

Combining school and church R74 listeners:

59% could name an advertiser

41% could not name an advertiser

The following Radio 74 advertisers were mentioned four times:

Bookworm

Schilliger Garden Centre

CMM/ Roy Damary

Harsch Transports

Balestra

The following advertiser was mentioned 3 times:

Pellichet

The following advertisers were mentioned twice:

Hotel Fleur du Lac

ASC language school

The following were mentioned a single time:

Webster University; Internet Prolink; Amphore; Paloma; Merryl Lynch

The following were discounted as invalid advertisers:

"Some moving company"

Cruise Lines

ABC Language

Watchmaker

From the above, it can be seen that the advertisers that really "register" with listeners are those that

either: offer a service of great interest to the English speaking community

or: have a long-term commitment to radio advertising / sponsorship

The range of comments was grouped under 3 headings:

Attitude / approach / programmes

Music

Local and International news

These were then divided into positive and negative remarks. The complete list of remarks is given in Appendix 3.

From the school survey, the number of comments in each category was as follows:

Attitude / approach / programmes - 7 positive; 2 negative

Music - 5 positive; 5 negative

Local and international news - 9 positive; 1 negative

From the church survey, the comments on WRG were as follows:

Attitude / approach / programmes - 11 positive; 3 negative

Music - 8 positive; 2 negative

Local and international news - 7 positive; 1 negative

Looking at the results of both, the following opinions dominate:

1. Listeners find the station entertaining and interesting to listen to. The breakfast show gained specific praise. However, some listeners are not happy with the flippant chat.

2. There was a mixed response to the music, though it was generally in favour. Church listeners favoured the music more than the school listeners(!).

3. Local news broadcasting is seen as a strength of WRG. The station is seen as being very involved with life in Geneva.

WRG's greatest strength is that is present local events and issues in an informative, interesting and entertaining manner.

WRG could probably examine even more closely the type of music that its listeners would like to hear.

From the school survey, the number of comments in each category was as follows:

Attitude / approach / programmes - 1 positive; 12 negative

Music - 0 positive; 1 negative

Local and international news - 6 positive; 0 negative

From the church survey, the comments on Radio 74 were as follows:

Attitude / approach / programmes - 11 positive; 9 negative

Music - 0 positive; 11 negative

Local and international news - 5 positive; 0 negative

Looking at the results of both, the following opinions dominate:

1. The school listeners feel strongly that the station is "too religious". The church listeners do not object to its religious stance, though many don't like the particular approach. Church listeners join the school listeners in hating the way the station is always asking for money from its listeners.

On the positive side, some of the transmitted programmes have a following, with Focus on the Family getting particular mention.

2. The music on Radio 74 gained no positive remarks from any listeners. Church listeners are particularly critical of the music broadcast on Radio 74.

3. The BBC news gained universal praise from both school and church listeners.

By far the most popular feature on Radio 74 is the retransmitted BBC world service news. A number of other programmes, particularly Focus on the Family, have popular support, mainly among the Christian audience.

Listeners have three main dislikes of Radio 74: the music; the constant asking for financial contributions from listeners; and the approach of the presenter.

I am carrying out some independent research into the listening habits of the international community in the Geneva area. I would very much appreciate it if you could reply to the few questions below. Two response slips are attached, one for each adult in your household to complete.

This questionnaire is entirely voluntary. If you wish to participate, then please return the slips to your child's teacher in the next few days. All replies are to be anonymous.

Marion Burkimsher (059) 450 41 02 14

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1. During the past two weeks, have you listened to either of the following radio stations (even for a brief period)?

WRG-FM (World Radio Geneva) Yes No

Radio 74 Yes No

2. Do you recall any advertisements on the radio?

WRG - name of advertiser:

Radio 74 - name of advertiser:

3. Do you have any strong feelings about either radio station?

WRG - comments

Radio 74 - comments

4. Your age group (please circle): <35 35 - 50 >50

...........................................................................................................................................

1. During the past two weeks, have you listened to either of the following radio stations (even for a brief period)?

WRG-FM (World Radio Geneva) Yes No

Radio 74 Yes No

2. Do you recall any advertisements on the radio?

WRG - name of advertiser:

Radio 74 - name of advertiser:

3. Do you have any strong feelings about either radio station?

WRG - comments

Radio 74 - comments

4. Your age group (please circle): <35 35 - 50 >50

To help Crossroads know where best to target their radio announcements, I am carrying out research into listening habits of church and non-church groups. I would very much appreciate it if you could reply to the few questions below.

This questionnaire is entirely voluntary. If you wish to participate, then please place the slip in the marked box at the back of the church after the service. All replies are to be anonymous.

Marion Burkimsher

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1. During the past two weeks, have you listened to either of the following radio stations (even for a brief period)?

WRG-FM (World Radio Geneva) Yes No

Radio 74 Yes No

2. Your age group (please circle): <35 35 - 50 >50

3. Do you recall any advertisements on the radio?

WRG - name of advertiser:

Radio 74 - name of advertiser:

4. Do you have any strong feelings about either radio station?

WRG - comments

Radio 74 - comments