I’d quibble with McArthur’s suggestion that consumers only use one medium at a time in ‘other media’ (though depends how you define “use” I suppose) but this (below) is a useful bit of backup research about layered media usage. Despite this report’s focus on advertising, also backs up a lot of our thinking about combining public service radio and internet at the BBC.

“One in five online users are also listening to radio at any given time, according to research from the Internet Advertising Bureau and the Radio Advertising Bureau. The trade bodies for radio and online, which have previously competed for media marketshare, are announcing the results of their dual research into how people combine internet usage with radio listening. The IAB and the RAB buried the hatchet to produce this research, which works on the premise that people are increasingly listening to the radio while online. The project sets out to see when and where people combine the media, how they are used together and what the implications are for brands using this media partnership.”

“Douglas McArthur, chief executive of the RAB, said: “With other media, the consumers only use one medium at a time. So we thought we would take a look into this seriously rather than just anecdotally and it’s better than I’d imagined.”

“Perhaps the most important finding for this joint project was the conclusion that a fifth of online users are also listening to radio at any given time. The research also reported that the two mediums provide complementary rational and emotional benefits and they significantly enhance brand interaction. And there were some worrying statistics for the TV industry; in an evaluation of share of media time for broadband users, 26% of time was spent listening to the radio, with 24% of time spent online. This compares with 36% for TV. The RAB and IAB will now take advantage of the increasing use of broadband to convince advertisers of the dual usage of their mediums.”

“The profile of the user who combines radio and the web proved to be between the ages of 16-44 in the majority, with 24% male and 15% female.”

Media Week: Users combine radio and web