Some 48.2 percent of urban residents listened to a radio broadcast at least once in the previous month, according to a survey conducted by the Beijing-based China Mainland Marketing Research Co.
The figure is an even better 49.8 percent for rural people. Radio audiences in rural areas account for 68 per cent of the overall audience, said the survey, which used seven provincial radio stations for samples between April and November last year.
People now listen to radio broadcast not only via a traditional radio set but also via a mobile phone, car radio or even over the Internet.
In Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province, 3.4 percent of the audience listened to radio broadcasts using a mobile phone and 0.8 percent via the Internet.
"On average, people spend 86.2 minutes each day listening to the radio," said Chen Chongshan, a researcher with the News and Broadcasting Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
(China Daily January 22, 2003)