On Monday, Edison Research released an update of its Share of Ear report, based on October 2020 interviews. And, as we’ve been seeing from similar reports over the past few months, in-car listening is increasing as more people return to their normal routines.
First a little history from Edison. “Prior to COVID-19 restrictions in Q2 2020, 32% of all audio in the U.S. was consumed in car. When quarantine restrictions went into place in Q2, erasing many Americans’ commutes and greatly reducing travel in general, in-car listening plummeted by 38% so that it accounted for only 20% of all listening. This caused at-home listening in Q2 to soar from 49% of all listening to 70% of all listening, an increase of 43%.”
And Edison says listening is shifting from home back to the car as quarantine restrictions lift in Q3. “The latest research from Share of Ear shows a shift back to the car as quarantine restrictions have been lifted by varying degrees across the country. In-car listening grew from 20% in Q2 to 28% today, not quite equal to the pre-COVID number of 32% of all listening.”
As a result of listening increases in the car, at-home listening to audio is taking a hit. Edison reports that at-home listening levels have dropped from 70% in Q2 (the beginning of quarantine) to 59% of all listening today. At-home listening, although at lower levels since Q2, is still 10 points higher than pre-COVID listening.
