listenership

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The audience that listens to a certain form or genre of audio material (specifically (Internet, radio), an audio broadcast such as a radio program or a podcast).

   “While Soviet jamming is intense, particularly in the vicinity of Moscow, we have evidence that "Voice [of America]" programs can be heard in areas 25 miles from Moscow and that there are listeners in numerous cities throughout the Soviet Union. Listenership in the satellites, according to refugees, is widespread.”

   “[A]n increase in VOA [Voice of America] audience size may well have been concealed by a change in recording listenership. In all, VOA tied for third in listenership among foreign stations.”

   “On the other hand, listenership figures from SABC [...] indicate that Radio Metro, an English-medium music programme oriented to urban blacks has one of the highest listenerships of all stations among blacks.”

   “What people "want" to read in newspapers, see on television and in films, and listen to over the radio is made available to them by the media owners and their managers. The main objective is to make continuous efforts to increase readership/viewership/listenership so that revenue of advertisements could be attracted.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The act of paying attention to a conversation or speech; listening.

   “Following are the main features found in the talk of three of the six Thanksgiving celebrants. [...] 3. Pacing. (a) faster rate of speech, (b) inter-turn pauses avoided (silence is evidence of lack of rapport), (c) faster turntaking, (d) cooperative overlap and participatory listenership.”

   “Marsha refers to the characteristic which Pam identified, showing verbal agreement, as "a bad habit," claiming that rather than showing good listenership, it often masks not listening ("tune 'em out").”

   “These categories form a continuum that shows the degree of floor control, i.e. the left end of the continuum indicates that the speaker has little floor control and is more likely to engage in listenership, while the right end of the continuum shows strong influence on floor control (the speaker can dominate the floor, taking away the floor from the previous speaker).”

   “[W]omen tend to provide and expect more listener feedback such as "yeah," "mhm," and "uhuh," so they often get the mistaken impression that men are not listening when they are, while men often mistake women's signs of listenership for signs of agreement, and feel misled when they later learn that the women did not agree.”