While quarterly financials for radio’s biggest operators have yet to drop, there’s certainly a lot for the industry to celebrate in the quarter’s listening data. In Q3, radio captured 67% of all ad-supported audio listening time, with Millennial and Gen Z radio consumption rising.
The news comes in Nielsen and Edison Research’s latest edition of The Record, a “quarterly report card on how US consumers spend their audio listening time.” This listening time includes both ad-supported and ad-free platforms like radio, podcasts, streaming music, and satellite radio, with a strong focus on how ad-supported audio channels are performing.
Overall, Americans are devoting nearly 20% of their daily media time to audio, amounting to an average of 3 hours and 57 minutes per day in Q3.
Digging into ad-supported audio, AM/FM – over-the-air and streaming – controlled the space at more than two-thirds, followed by podcasts at 18%, streaming audio services at 11%, and satellite radio at 3%. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, radio’s share grew to 51% from 48% in the previous quarter, while podcast share continued to drop, falling to 31% from 35% in Q2 and 37% in Q1.
Listeners over 35 allocate almost 75% of their daily ad-supported audio time to radio.
By format, News/Talk is the most dominant, commanding 10.7% of the overall radio listening audience. That number notably jumps when looking at the genre’s streaming share, with 23.1% among all listeners 18+ and peaking at 25.3% among the 35+ group.
For younger listeners, ages 18 to 34, Adult Contemporary and CHR unsurprisingly lead, with Adult Contemporary capturing 8.4% of all listening and an even higher streaming share of 15.9%. For those 25-54, AC is still significant, capturing a 7.4% listening share, followed by Pop CHR (6.3%) and Country (6.3%).
Certain formats show higher streaming shares than OTA, pointing to digital demand. For instance, All Sports is at 9.2% for 18+ streaming, which nearly doubles its OTA listenership share (4.4%). This streaming preference is also seen in formats like Alternative and Urban Adult Contemporary/R&B across various age groups.
Formats like Mexican Regional and Spanish Contemporary are more modest but hold a stable share across demographics, reflecting the unignorable Hispanic demographic and its importance to radio.
Detailed results of The Record Q3 2024 are available via Nielsen.
