With streaming services multiplying and habits fragmenting, radio still stands at the center of America’s daily listening. Edison Research’s Q3 2025 Share of Ear finds AM/FM commanding the majority of ad-supported audio time across every demographic.
Based on more than 4,000 respondents aged 13 and older, Edison found that over-the-air radio captures 34% of total audio time and 64% of all ad-supported listening among adults 18 and older. Nearly two-thirds of the ad-supported audio heard in the US, including podcasts and streaming platforms, comes from radio. Podcasts follow with 20%, while ad-supported Spotify and Pandora trail at 6% and 5%, respectively.
Collectively, all other ad-supported platforms, from YouTube Music to Amazon Music, account for the remaining share of daily listening.
Trendlines from 2017 to 2025 show the structure of audio evolving but radio’s foundation intact. AM/FM’s overall share has remained strong while podcasts have quadrupled their portion of ad-supported listening, rising from 5% to 20%. Pandora’s audience has fallen by nearly half, while Spotify’s ad-free subscriptions now represent most of its listening, as regular price hikes become the norm.
The data reveals a persistent gap between industry perception and audience reality. Advertisers tend to believe streaming dominates, estimating radio’s audience share around 26%. Edison’s measurement shows AM/FM’s audience is more than ten times larger than ad-supported Spotify and over twelve times greater than ad-supported Pandora.
Across demographics, radio remains victorious. Among adults 25–54, AM/FM captures 60% of ad-supported listening; that rises to 68% among 35–64-year-olds and 75% among listeners aged 50 and above. Women devote 65% of their ad-supported listening to AM/FM, men 64%. Radio’s strength is just as pronounced across African American and Hispanic listeners, where it remains the top choice, followed by podcasts in second place.
Streaming continues to expand as a complement to broadcast.
Among adults 25–54, 14% of all AM/FM listening now occurs via digital streams—nearly double its 2016 share. Both men and women report the same ratio, signaling consistent adoption across genders. Duplication analysis finds that the majority of listeners using AM/FM radio do not overlap with streaming audiences: 89% of radio listeners do not use ad-supported Spotify, Pandora, or SiriusXM. When added to an over-the-air campaign, AM/FM streaming delivers an 8% lift in incremental reach, while combining radio with podcasts extends total reach by 17%.
Location data underscores radio’s mobile advantage. Sixty-five percent of AM/FM listening occurs away from home, compared to 63% of pure-play streaming that happens inside the home, largely as background audio. In the car, radio remains unmatched with an 84% share of ad-supported listening, a figure that has remained steady since 2017 despite the growth of connected dashboards and streaming options.
Time-spent data tells a similar story. In a typical hour of ad-supported audio, Americans spend 39 minutes with AM/FM radio, 12 minutes with podcasts, and about three minutes with either ad-supported Spotify or Pandora. Among registered voters, AM/FM holds 65% of ad-supported listening, well ahead of all other platforms combined. Across political affiliations, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all devote roughly two-thirds of their ad-supported listening time to radio.
More analysis can be found via Cumulus Media/Westwood One’s Audio Active Group.
