Jacobs Poll: Cell-Phone-Onlies Are "Modern" Lovers

A major concern voiced by the Arbitron Advisory Council at its spring meeting was that Arbitron needs to find a way to reach listeners that rely exclusively on cell phones. A new Jacobs Media online poll sheds further light on the issue, showing that "cell phone onlies" are most prevalent among 18-29 year-old rock listeners.

Federal laws forbid Arbitron and other researchers from using predictive dialers when calling cell phones, making it impossible for the ratings company to reach "cell phone onlies" using its current diary placement process.

The Jacobs study surveyed Web site visitors to more than 50 radio stations representing modern rock, active rock, mainstream and classic rock formats in markets ranging from Philadelphia and Chicago to Hagerstown, Md. and Ft. Wayne, Ind. Over 19,000 surveys were collected.

Taken as a whole, 17% of the respondents are cell-only. (A new Arbitron study concluded that 17%-20% of all 18-34's rely exclusively on cell phones.) Almost three in ten, or 28%, of modern rock listeners are cell-only, and even 10% of classic rock listeners no longer have landlines.

When it's broken down by age, the divide gets larger. Thirty-three percent of rock radio-listening 18-29 year-olds describe themselves as cell-only, but even 19% of 30-34 year-old rock listeners have cut the cords on their landlines.

The study finds the biggest numbers of 18-29 year-olds without home phones are modern rock listeners -- 37% are cell phone-only. Even 29% of classic rock listeners in that age group were cell-only.

Jacobs reported their findings to Arbitron, along with their concern that the problem won't be addressed until at least 2006. "It is critically important that Arbitron speed up its plans and strategy development for surveying young listeners," Jacobs' memo to Arbitron concluded.