A new Crowd React Media report challenges a long-standing industry narrative: radio’s reach was never 90% in most markets. While AM/FM awareness remains high, the report urges broadcasters to shift their focus from reach to more actionable listener engagement.
In its second annual State of Media report, Crowd React Media says, “For years, research firms claimed radio had a 90%+ reach. But our own local studies, even pre-pandemic, told a different story. In reality, we saw radio cume in the 65–75% range in most 18+ markets – still strong, but not omnipresent.” That level of weekly use is still enough to place radio among the top four media platforms, ahead of streaming music services like Spotify in both awareness and general usage.
However, the report notes that frequency is where radio struggles. Crowd React Media defines frequency as tuning in three to five times per week. By that measure, only 40% of radio listeners are considered frequent users, compared to significantly higher conversion rates on platforms like YouTube and social media.
Despite these trends, radio’s strongest audiences remain adults 35 and older. Weekly cume is highest among 55+ listeners (82%), followed by 35–54-year-olds. Reach among 18–34-year-olds has declined to 69%, though that still represents more than two-thirds of the demo. Men slightly outpace women in radio use, 77% to 75%.
Music continues to dominate radio listening, with 88% of users tuning in for music formats. News/Talk is the second most popular format (36%), followed by Sports (20%) and Religious programming (11%). Gender and age influence format preferences: men over-index in News, Sports, and Rock, while women lean more heavily into Pop and Country.
Morning drive remains the peak listening window, with 62% of users tuning in between 6a and 10a, aligning with commuter habits. Which ties into another of radio’s clear advantages – the car. About 72% of users cite radio as their primary source of audio while driving, a figure that beats all digital platforms in that context. In contrast, at-home and mobile listening environments are dominated by streaming and podcast services, particularly among younger demos.
Midday listening has grown, reaching nearly half of listeners, likely due to work-from-home and hybrid schedules. Weekend listening also holds up well, with 43% listening on Saturdays and 36% on Sundays.
But radio’s challenge is clear in the State of Media: as digital options expand and routines evolve, the industry must fight to remain a daily habit. That means doubling down on local voices, meaningful content, and strategic ad placement across dayparts. The loss of personality and community connection, especially in non-morning shifts, is felt by audiences and risks turning radio into just another music stream.
The full State of Media report is available via Crowd React Media.
The final paragraph says it all. Radio needs live voices, local content. Voice tracking and multi-station syndication doesn’t save, it costs potential income and listeners. And yet, larger companies of all sorts of industries feel that disposing of people to save money or improve share values is the way to go…even though it is the people who give/make the product valuable.
There is no amount of live & local talent, no hiring of more staff, no creation of local content that will cause people to throw away their digital devices and come back to radio. It’s really that simple. Unless you’re on a device they already own, you don’t exist.
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