Nielsen’s latest Audio Today report makes a pointed case that AM/FM radio is still delivering strong advertiser results, even as marketers continue to underrate it, setting up a wider question about how long perception can keep outrunning the data.
In its Audio Today 2026: How America Listens report this week, Nielsen’s Global Compass benchmark data shows radio delivers a weighted return of $2.00 for every dollar spent, placing it second among all measured media channels, behind only social media’s $2.22 and ahead of video, display, television, and connected TV. Despite that, marketers surveyed in Nielsen’s 2025 Annual Marketing Report ranked radio last in perceived effectiveness, with just 46% viewing it as an effective channel.
Nielsen says the disconnect is driving underinvestment in one of the highest-performing channels available to advertisers, with digital media capturing budget based on measurability rather than actual returns.
According to Edison Research’s Q4 2025 Share of Ear study, AM/FM radio accounts for more than 80% of all ad-supported audio time in vehicles, which Nielsen says is critical for advertisers targeting consumers near the point of purchase. Nielsen’s own data finds that 74% of all out-of-home radio listening during morning and afternoon drive times occurs in the car. On weekday drive times specifically, 73% of out-of-home listening happens in vehicles.
Radio alone reaches 89% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 each month, according to Nielsen Audience Insights data from Q3 2025. This already outpaces smartphones, live television, TV-connected devices, PCs, and tablets in that demographic, but when podcast listeners are layered in using Nielsen’s Podcast Fusion data, total reach climbs to 94.4% of the 18–34 population, with podcasts contributing 5.6 points of incremental reach on top of radio’s base.
The two platforms share an audience of more than 50%, meaning the overlap is substantial, but the incremental gain is still important.
Nielsen’s data also shows that 77% of all daily ad-supported audio time among 18–34 consumers goes to radio and podcasts combined, a figure the company says should be central to how advertisers plan audio campaigns targeting younger consumers.
This is a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Let’s get out of our own way and start championing the fact that we are free, we go wherever our listeners go and we don’t track you!