This month Edison Research released a new study entitled, “The Infinite Dial 2013: Navigating Digital Platforms.” Click here to download the PDF of the entire report, but I’ll give you a bird’s eye view.
• 24% of American homes have 3 or more working computers
• 67% have Internet and a Wi-Fi network
• 24% have 5 or more devices connected to their network
• 45% or 120 million Americans listened to online radio in the last month. Think Pandora, I Heart Radio, Spotify, etc.
• 33% or 83 million Americans listened to online radio in the last week.
• The average self-reported time spent listening to online radio is almost 12 hours a week.
• Pandora has about 182 million users. I Heart Radio has about 119 million. Spotify has about 57 million. They’re all show substantial growth.
• 46% of Americans are familiar with the term “podcasting.”
• 27% have listened to an audio podcast. 22% have watched a video podcast.
• 12% have listened to a podcast in the past month. That’s about 32 million people.
• More than a quarter of podcast listeners consume 6 or more podcasts a week.
• 43% have watched an online video in the past week. That’s about 113 million people.
• YouTube seems to be leveling off. The number of people consuming video last month and last week seem flat compared to last year.
• The average time spent by users with online radio is just under 12 hours a week compared to 4 hours of video.
• 53% of Americans, or as estimated 139 million people, own smart phones.
• The top 4 uses of smart phones are (in this order): making and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages, taking pictures and surfing the Internet.
• 47% of all smart phone users have downloaded the Pandora app.
• 50% of the 12-24 aged population use texting most often as their form of communication.
• 52% of cell phone users have their cell phone always within reach.
• 3 in 10 wake up daily to their cell phone.
• 29% of Americans own a tablet computer. 14% own an Apple iPad.
• 62% of Americans have a social media profile somewhere online.
• 58% have a Facebook profile (far and away the leading platform). Next in line? LinkedIn at 17%. Surprised? So was I. Twitter is at 15%. Prepare for a real shock – MySpace is at 14%. Pinterest is at 10%.
• Year over year growth on social media is highest among people 55 and older.
• 27% of Americans, about 71 million, check their social media daily.
• 12 to 24 year olds have the highest number of social media connections (around 500). The average of all age groups is 262.
• 44% hear about a Tweet daily, but not on Twitter.
• 29% of Facebook users express a political opinion there. 13% admit they’ve unfriended somebody because of it.
There are many more fun facts to digest in this report. Download it, absorb it and see if it can help you design better methods of communicating with your audience.
