Cumulus Media and Westwood One Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard is offering his overview of Edison Research’s latest “Share of Ear” data on ad-supported audio, updated for Q3 2023. The ongoing study, surveying 4,000 Americans annually since 2015, provides an eight-year perspective on audio usage in the US.
Key findings include a notable resurgence in in-car AM/FM radio listening, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, at-home listening for all ad-supported audio has remained high, reflecting ongoing work-from-home trends.
The immediate spike is the rise in spoken word content post-COVID, including news, talk, and sports. In 2016, adults aged 25-54 devoted 26% of their ad-supported audio time to spoken word, which has now increased to 39% in 2023. If this trend continues, spoken word could account for half of all ad-supported audio listening by 2028.
This growth is especially strong with podcasts, whose shares have increased by 575% since 2016. In contrast, ad-supported music streaming on platforms like Pandora and Spotify has declined by 31% over the same period.
In that same vein, AM/FM radio streaming now surpasses the combined audience share of Pandora and Spotify. In-car listening for AM/FM radio jumped from 41% in 2022 to 50% in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels of 49%. In comparison, at-home listening for ad-supported audio has seen a six-point increase from 2016-2019 to 2023.
Overall, AM/FM radio continues to dominate the ad-supported audio platform with a 69% overall share and an 85% share in-car.
More data can be found on the Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group blog.
Dit artikel over Bouvard’s opvatting dat AM/FM het ‘middelpunt’ is van door advertenties ondersteunde audio is interessant en relevant. Het benadrukt de blijvende kracht van traditionele radio in een wereld waar digitale platforms de overhand hebben. Het idee dat AM/FM-radio nog steeds het centrum vormt van ad-ondersteunde audio, wijst op de diepgewortelde invloed en bereik van deze klassieke vorm van media. Interessant om te zien hoe adverteren op audio blijft evolueren en zich aanpast aan veranderende luistergewoonten