Nielsen and Edison Research have released the results of their third-quarter study from The Record, which shows that AM/FM radio still earns the lion’s share of daily time spent listening.
According to the results, daily audio consumption hit just shy of four hours. 64% of all listening took place with ad-supported audio, according to Nielsen.
Of that total time, 62% was spent with AM/FM radio. An additional 20% was spent listening to podcasts, with 15% listening to streaming music, and 3% listening to satellite radio.
Nielsen notes for advertisers that the results show that more than 80% of all time spent listening is spent with either terrestrial radio or podcasts, while only 15% is spent listening on platforms like Spotify and Pandora.
When broken down by age, AM/FM Radio receives its largest share with those aged 35 and above. 69% of all audio time from that demographic is spent with the medium. Meanwhile, podcast listening drops to 16% in that range.
For those aged 25-54, podcast listening rises to 24%, while radio sits at 59%.
Meanwhile, in the 18-34 demographic, podcasts and streaming music both see a significant rise. In that demographic, 31% of daily audio time is spent listening to podcasts, while 24% is with ad-supported streaming music. AM/FM radio falls to 43% in that sector.
Additionally, the data shows which are the most popular radio formats based on demographics.
News/Talk — both commercial and non-commercial stations — is overwhelmingly the most popular format of the 35+ demographic. It earns a 12 share in the data compiled by Nielsen and Edison Research.
The next closest format in that category is Adult Contemporary, which sees a 7 share. News/Talk is also the most popular format in the 18+ category.
For those aged 18-34, Adult Contemporary is just shy of an 8 share, making it the top format. Pop Contemporary isn’t far behind, finishing with a 7 share.
Adult Contemporary is also the top format for the 25-54 demographic, the results show.
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