Country music listenership has changed a lot over the years. What was once a genre that attracted mostly its own superfans is becoming more and more mainstream by the day – and that’s something we love to see! The more people we can welcome into the country scene, the better — and a wider, more diverse audience works great for advertisers, too.
But what are these listeners like? How are their lives structured? These are questions we have the answers to. Once you know who’s listening to K105 and B100, you can use that information to better advertise to the ever-widening audience. So, let’s get to know your average country listener.
K105, based in Fort Wayne, and B100, based in South Bend, both play current country music hits. These aren’t the stations for major throwbacks, but if you’re into the modern country scene, these are the stations to switch on. When you do, you’ll hear an awesome mix of Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, and much, much more.
With over 160,000 weekly listeners combined, you could say that people within a 50-mile radius of Fort Wayne and South Bend sure love their country music!
One thing that sets country music fans apart is their fierce loyalty to the genre. Country music fans are typically unduplicated listeners — meaning, they tend to only listen to their favorite country radio station and they never change their radio dial. That means that the best way to get in front of these loyal listeners is to partner with country radio!
Even though there’s a good mix of male and female artists that K105 and B100 play, there’s a certain gender that likes country music just a little more than the other. What’s your guess – do male or females listen to country music more often?
Well, both stations have more female listeners than male listeners – but just by a hair!
As for the age of our listeners, most fall between 21-34 with 35-54 as the runner-up; on the whole, B100 is more concentrated on younger listeners than K105 is. But both stations’ statistics show that listeners are likely to follow an active lifestyle and many are active within their communities.
Most listeners of both B100 and K105 are full-time employees, meaning they most likely listen to the radio on the way to work and on the way home, too. This makes sense since a large segment of B100 listeners make between $50k-$75k a year, with the second-most sizable portion making $100k-$150k. As for K105, the larger portion makes $100k-$150k, with the sector of $50k-$75k coming in second.
A notable number of listeners work in retail and customer service, which means they probably listen to our stations while on the floor. Many country music listeners also work as teachers, medical professionals, and managers (no matter the field) as well. If they can find a way to incorporate country music into their day, they’ll do it.
A good chunk of country music listeners are married people who own their homes – though the next-most popular demographic is single people who’ve never been married. Clearly, they know how to embrace the Lone Ranger lifestyle, and we respect that.
As for education, the majority of K105 and B100’s listeners have at least some college under their belts. Coming in second are high school graduates (or those who have earned GEDs).
Sure, our country stations know how to line dance, but they also know how to support their community by giving back. Over the years, B100 and K105 together have raised more than $8.5 million for St. Jude’s Research through the stations’ radiothons.
K105 was recognized from 2016-2020 for the IBA Community Awards, and they are also a huge supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Pancreatic Cancer Care Network.
B100 is impressive when it comes to compassion and care for their community as well. They participate in Relay for Life (which supports the American Cancer Society), Drink Pink (supporting breast cancer awareness and River Bend Cancer Services), Go Red for Women (supporting the American Heart Association), Miracle Moments (supporting the South Bend Center for the Homeless) and the Goodwill Little Black Dress Event.
What our country music stations care most about are the people who support them, so it’s only right that they offer the same support in return!
Whether you’ve got cowboy or cowgirl blood running through your veins or you only do the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” once in a while, Federated Media thanks you for being a fan of our favorite country stations!
To learn more about the stations' audiences and find out just who's listening, be sure to check out the stats pages for K105 and B100. Get in touch with us if you have any questions and, in the meantime, as Brooks & Dunn once said... play somethin' country!