It may have seemed unthinkable a decade ago, but, for the first time, podcasts have surpassed over-the-air radio in daily spoken-word audio time in the US, according to new Edison Research Share of Ear data covering listeners 13 and older through Q4 2025.
Edison shows podcasts accounting for 40% of daily spoken-word audio time among US listeners 13+ through Q4 2025, with radio, including both over-the-air and streaming, at 39%. In 2015, AM/FM radio commanded 75% of spoken-word listening. Podcasts had 10%.
The erosion has been steady over the past ten years. Radio’s spoken-word share dropped from 75% in 2015 to 50% by 2020, then to 46% in 2021 and 2022, before reaching 39% last year. Podcasts climbed the entire time, from 10% in 2015 to 24% in 2020, 37% in 2023 and 2024, and now 40%.
Spoken-word audio represents 25% of all daily time spent with audio.
When Acast CEO Greg Glenday talked to Radio Ink late last year that many in radio are sitting on an underutilized asset. “Local stations already have something national platforms can’t match: real trust with their communities and personalities who truly know their audience,” he said, making the case for branded podcasting as a clear growth path in 2026.
Meanwhile, audio-only podcast listeners still outnumber exclusive video watchers nearly two to one, and traditional radio companies continue to rank among podcasting’s heaviest hitters, per 2025 data.
As AMA CEO Paul Kelly told Radio Ink heading into 2025, the opportunity for broadcasters is to stop treating radio and podcasting as separate bets. The goal, he said, is the ability to “fully transition and balance a linear audience and consumption with digital across a suite of audio experiences” like live radio, podcasts, and streaming, aggregated for advertisers in a way that’s native to each.
