It’s a strange question, but one with an incredibly telling answer…

What’s the first type of media you reach for in the morning, before anything else?

Well, that’s exactly the question that research group Jacobs Media asked a panel of 57,000 people.  And they found that a monstrous 43 percent access traditional radio first, with TV weighing in at a significant 26 percent.

The slide was presented Friday afternoon at the Worldwide Radio Summit, held at the W Hotel in Hollywood.  Actually, Jacobs considered the aggregated 43 percent figure for radio to be low, especially since this dataset was somewhat skewed towards traditional radio.  In terms of methdology, the 57,000-strong dataset was pulled from radio station email lists, though in fairness, that suggests a bit of station loyalty mixed with web and tech-savviness.

And perhaps 43 percent is low when you consider the natural advantage of clock radios, which automatically makes ‘radio at home’ the first experience.  “The majority of waking encounters in the morning are non-radio, they’re starting with something else,” a Jacobs executive told an audience skewed towards traditional radio executives.  “It’s a big finding.”

Maybe it’s a glacier: Jacobs noted that a far greater percentage of 18-34s are starting their days with Facebook or email.  And someday, they’ll be the dinosaurs.

-digitalmusicnews.com