New research from Mark Kassof & Co.'s "ListenerThink" survey shows that half of 18-64 music listeners surveyed want a 6-9 a.m. program that "focuses on music, with little or no personalities, contests, listener voices or talk about things that are happening." But listeners are evenly split on this issue, with 48% opting for a program that "features personalities, contests, listener voices and talk about things that are happening, in addition to music." Listeners were offered the same choice of program type after 9 a.m. Then, 69 percent prefer a focus on music, versus 27 percent who prefer a personality-oriented approach.

This research does not find dramatic demographic differences in listeners' attitudes. However, 18-34 listeners skew more to the "personality" approach than their older counterparts, mainly in morning drive. Then, 53 percent of 18-34's prefer "personalities, contests, etc.," versus 44 percent of 35-64's.

Kassof says, “If you have a successful morning program, this research certainly does NOT suggest you change it! But if you don't, it does suggest that a contrarian strategy focusing on music could be the way to go."

The Kassof findings are based on 368 telephone surveys with 18-64-year-old music listeners, defined as those who listened to a station that plays music in the past week. The survey was conducted July 20-22, 2012 in the U.S. More on this research can be found at kassof.com. This research is the latest in a series of "ListenerThink" surveys conducted by Mark Kassof & Co. on topics of interest to the radio industry.