What's Next: Tweens

Move over Millennials--if we thought Gen Y was the tech generation just wait until today's Tweens graduate into young adults.

41% of Tween internet users listen to the radio less than 1 hour per week--that according to a survey conducted by DoubleClick Performics and ROI Research. Let me repeat that - less than one hour per WEEK.

83% of 10-14 year old Tweens use the internet at least an 1 hour per day. The recent survey concluded that young US consumers spent more time on the Internet than with any other type of media.

According to Arbitron's 10 year TSL trend trend, through spring '07, among teens (12-17) there has been a 20% decline in weekly TSL. For the purpose of comparison I have taken the data an converted it into average daily TSL.

As of the Spring '07 the average teen uses the radio about 1 hour and 42 minutes a day down from 2 hours and 8 minutes in fall '98. Spring '07 cume was 90.6% compared with 95.6 back in fall '98.

So if we were to correlate the two studies--not so easy to do since they are apples and oranges in terms of demographics and sample--one thing the recent survey does convey is potentially a pretty grim picture of what radio usage is like/will be like with the next generation. Maybe we should call them Gen T for Tech.

I hate being doom and gloom, but it is hard to paint a positive picture of the future when survey after survey tells a different tale. If we take the recent survey at face value, only 29% of today's Tweens use the radio an hour or more a day. And that can't be good for our future.