Media Week reports that one in five online users is also listening to the radio. But:

1. The article quotes the CEO of the Radio Advertising Board as saying that multiple media use isn’t present with media. So, apparently, no one is watching TV while they use the internet, and there are no kids out there who play video games with the TV on either. Heaven forbid we should read with anything on in the background either!
2. So I looked, but I couldn’t find any more detailed information about the study or its methods. That’s probably by design. But I’d guess it was a simple telephone survey. The problem is that ‘using,’ ‘listening,’ and ‘watching’ are not binary activities. Looking at it that way captures a tiny percentage of behavior. In reality people divide their attention along a constantly shifting continuum.
3. These findings do a terrible job of accounting for actual practice. For example, how many folks habitually leave the radio on at work? In that situation the radio can become a sort of background noise rather than an active media. People can use the radio to help soften a harsh or formal work environment, to provide some sense of privacy by masking other noise, or to personalize their space. In each of these situations radio listening becomes important, but not in the way that advertisers think.

(via cityofsound)