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Don Forsling

"Iowa--Gateway to Those Big Rectangular States"
"Telamon" wrote in message
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In article ,
"Don Forsling" wrote:

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Telamon
Ventura, California

I think there are many people using them for information and news but
not so much for entertainment. The entertainment factor may be making
the difference in which SW does not show up in the surveys.

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What makes you think that using radio for news and information instead
of
for entertainment would lessen the extent to which shortwave listener
would
be reflected in survey results? It wouldn't make any difference.
Surveys
either measure listening coincidentally (as in "What are you listening
to
right now?") or through recall via diary or interview (as in "Write down
what you listened to today or tell us what you listened to today").
There
is no reason why results would be skewed by program content. Shortwave
listening is essentially zip in developed countries and just about zip
in
impoverished countries (as a percentage of radio listeners who _ever_
listen
to shortwave, that is....

I have been surveyed by radio stations and every time all the questions
were entertainment related with no mention of news, weather, talk, and
commentary.

(In audience research work, the term "lots" as in "lots" of shortwave
radios
are sold or "lots" of people get their news, etc., doesn't cut it
statistically). Shortwave is a technology the time for which has come
and
gone in terms of being of any serious utility. And it "disappears" just
a
little bit more day by day. And _that_ is not surprising.

A lot of money has been spent on SW radios over the years. People must
be doing something with them.

Sure a lot of money has been spent on SW radios, but as a percentage of the
amount spent on radios without shortwave capability, the amount is
miniscule--peanuts. I wonder how many people in a state with a population
of, say, 3,000,000 are listening to SW during an evening hour? My off-hand
estimate would be no more than 100. My estimate is probably on the high
side.