For the first time since it began collecting data, Edison Research figures show that podcast listening surpassed spoken-word formats on AM/FM radio.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, time spent listening to podcasts rose to 40% of all spoken-word listening time. AM/FM Radio spoken word audio time finished the quarter at 39% of listening, according to the Share of Ear study from Edison Research.
When the study first began in 2015, 75% of Americans listening to spoken word audio were with AM/FM Radio. At that same time, only 10% of spoken word audio was spent listening to podcasts.
Those figures have continually inched closer, getting to as close as six percentage points in 2023 before (43% AM/FM Radio-37% podcasts), before the gap widened in favor of terrestrial radio in 2024.
Spoken word audio listening accounts for 25% of all daily time spent with audio, the Edison Research study shows.
The Edison Research Share of Ear study focuses on Americans aged 13+ and their daily, weekly, and monthly listening habits.
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