Want your advertising to have the most reach? You won’t get it from Pandora. Your ROI isn’t the biggest by using Spotify. No, the ad-supported streaming audio platform with the most share of ear is now AM/FM radio, signaling a major inflection point in consumption.
Cumulus Media and Westwood One Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard is weighing in on Edison Research’s Share of Ear Q1 2025 data, and his big takeaway is how AM/FM radio streaming has not only caught up with, but now surpasses, Spotify and Pandora in ad-supported audio share.
Based on responses from over 4,000 Americans aged 13 and older, the latest Share of Ear data shows that AM/FM radio streaming now holds an 8% share of total ad-supported audio listening, up from 6% in 2017. This outpaces both Spotify and Pandora’s ad-supported services, which now trail at 5% each.
Bouvard said, “The big mover on the page is podcasting,” which has climbed from 4% to 20% over the same period, “But AM/FM radio streaming is up too, from 6% to 8%.”
The data also shows that including AM/FM streaming in a digital media plan can unlock significantly more reach. On its own, Spotify reaches 7% of adults 25–54 daily. Adding Pandora bumps that up to 13%, and podcasting brings it to about 37%. But the inclusion of over-the-air radio, especially its streaming component, raises the total reach to nearly 80%. “You have missed the vast majority of American ad-supported audio,” if your buy omits AM/FM, Bouvard noted.
That leap is driven by minimal audience overlap between AM/FM streaming and other platforms. One-third of stream listeners do not consume radio over the air, offering incremental reach. Among all AM/FM listeners, 6% are stream-only, 10% use both platforms, and 84% listen solely over the air.
Much of that streaming traction is being driven by in-home listening. Edison found that 74% of radio streaming occurs at home, outpacing Spotify’s 65% in the same environment. Bouvard added, “And the good news here is when you’re targeting consumers at home, there’s a lot of rich targeting data to really enhance your media buys.”
The workplace is another key domain where radio holds a dominant position. In the office environment, over-the-air radio has a 55 share, podcasts claim 22, and AM/FM streaming still exceeds Spotify, Pandora, and even the combination of the two.
One of the more unexpected takeaways from the Q1 2025 report, per Bouvard, is the strength of spoken word formats within radio’s streaming ecosystem. These formats account for 28% of AM/FM streaming among adults 25–54, a significant increase over their traditional broadcast shares.
Among adults 25–54, News/Talk holds a 6.7% share of total AM/FM listening, but jumps to 15.4% in streaming. The Sports format rises from a 5% total share to 12.5% in streaming – a 2.5x gain. These increases are even more pronounced among adults aged 18–34. “Among 18–34s overall, All-Sports has a 3.5 share, but a 9.9 share among AM/FM radio streaming 18–34,” Bouvard said. “News talk goes from a 3.9 overall to a 9.7 in the stream.”
Bouvard called this shift “quite remarkable,” referring to AM/FM streaming as “the fountain of youth for spoken word,” and advising advertisers to “ensure your digital audio buy loads up on News, Talk, and Sports.”
