Nielsen Media Research recently unveiled its annual Audio Today report centering around the usage of audio-based platforms by American consumers, including streaming, podcasts and both broadcast and satellite radio. The study affirmed that radio reaches a larger share of the American population than any other media platform, including 91% of adults 18 or older. When narrowing down the demographic to adults ages 18-34, radio reaches 85% of the population, a figure 5% higher than live and time-shifted television. Year-over-year, the monthly reach of radio declined by approximately 2% both for adults 18 and older and adults ages 18-34. Nonetheless, radio still proves dominant over other devices able to access media, including tablets and smartphones.
While the impact of radio is undeniable, the precipitous rise of podcasts has been taking place over the course of several years and further saturating the content marketplace. Podcast listeners typically consume their programming during rush hours; that is, the early morning and the late afternoon and evening. American consumers spend an average of one to four hours consuming podcasts on a weekly basis, although consumers listening to podcasts for 5-7 hours per day increased from 12 to 15% annually.
As it pertains to podcast genres, comedy and news remained the top genres despite declines in listenership. Moreover, sports podcasts experienced a 10% decrease in listenership, one of the more pronounced decreases over the last year. Society and culture-based podcasts received the largest positive gain, with total listeners augmenting by 12%.
All-sports formatted radio stations, however, jumped in terms of monthly reach (000), moving from 10th to eighth among the top 20 AM/FM radio formats. The rise in cume is consistent with the reasoning behind increased advertising spending and investment into quality content.
The median age of sports radio listeners moved from 51 to 52, consistent with the existing audience. Moreover, the percentage of listeners employed either on a full-time or part-time basis remained at 69%, along with the average household size of 2.9 persons.
Audio-based services, specifically those rooted in terrestrial radio, reach more listeners than any other platform. According to the study, ad-supported audio on radio reaches 91% of the U.S. population, nearly two times the number of listeners on streaming music services. The figure is down 2% year over year, but still strong compared to others comparable. Ninety-three percent of adults in the U.S. population between the ages of 35 and 49 are exposed to these advertisements on a monthly basis, and 92% age 50 or older. Analyzing the reach of audio in marketing campaigns, the study attained similar figures – 91% of adults over the age of 18; and 92% of adults age 50 or older.
Radio also dominates other platforms when it comes to the time spent listening, responsible for 38% of daily listening time among all audio sources. By refining the measurement to ad-supported audio sources – essentially eliminating owned music and paid audio streaming services without advertisements – radio is responsible for 68% of daily audio consumption.
Streaming is also on the rise, with 20% of listeners tuning into their favorite stations through digital streams. The number is up by 5% year over year and has steadily increased since the first quarter of 2022, quantifiable evidence of the conspicuous effect of technological innovation and development on the industry.
As has historically been the case, larger shares of listening take place when consumers are out of their homes, primarily in the car. The study concluded that 68% of listeners consume radio in the car outside of the home during a full week, with more car-based radio listening taking place on the weekends than the weekdays. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of AM radio listening takes place in the car, justifying the reasoning of keeping the platform accessible to drivers as a standard feature of vehicles. Ford had plans to eliminate AM radio from its new car models, but quickly reversed course after government leaders voiced concerns about the dissemination of notifications via the emergency alert system.
NOTE: An original version of this story expressed that sports radio more than doubled its monthly reach in the last year. Nielsen Media Research contacted Barrett Sports Media and expressed that there was an error in the 2022 Audio Today report, mistakenly listing the cume as 8,827 rather than 18,827 (000).
