With concerns about perceived political bias in American newsrooms raising alarms from the FCC to the family dinner table, is All-News radio the answer? Audacy puts forward that the format is the most balanced and effective environment for candidates.
The argument comes from Audacy SVP of Research and Insights Ray Borelli in an analysis that contrasts the party affiliation index of its New York City All-News offering, 1010 WINS, against national cable outlets. Indexed to adults 18+, 1010 WINS scores 103 among Democrats and 112 among Republicans. Fox News indexes at 25 among Democrats and 288 among Republicans. MSNOW sits at 155 among Democrats and 61 among Republicans; CNN at 135 and 68, respectively.
His analysis draws on three studies: an Alter Agents survey commissioned by Audacy finding 84% of respondents trusted All-News radio for local news, ahead of broadcast TV and social media; a Morning Consult study ranking over-the-air radio as the highest-credibility US news source; and a Katz Radio Group study finding 85% of adults rated radio as trustworthy.
Borelli attributes the balance to function rather than politics. Local news, he argues, serves daily navigation needs like commutes, weather, taxes, and schools that cut across party lines regardless of national political identity.
New Edison Research data reinforces the broader case for AM/FM as a whole as the dominant audio platform for reaching voters across the partisan divide. Edison Share of Ear puts AM/FM at 64% of all ad-supported audio time among registered voters 18+. Of those, radio commands 65% of ad-supported audio time among Republican voters, 64% among Democrats, and 62% among Independents.
Borelli also points to radio’s lower ad avoidance rates, minimal production costs, and the speed with which campaigns can update messaging in response to polling or late-breaking developments as reasons for candidates to pick radio advertising. The Alter Agents study found 77% of all-news listeners said they considered advertisers on those stations trustworthy.
