Nielsen: Blacks, Hispanics Make-Up A Third of Radio Listeners

Audio plays an important role in the daily lives of hundreds of millions of Americans, and a new report from Nielsen shows that radio is America’s top weekly reach platform, both overall and with Black and Hispanic consumers — 75 million of whom tune in each week.

Nielsen's Audio Today report profiles those audiences, their listening preferences, technology trends, and the unique value they offer to advertisers with a “sound strategy.”

According to the report, Black and Hispanic consumers are leading the way when it comes to interest in and adoption of both smart speakers and audio streaming services.

Nielsen’s new MediaTech Trender report is a quarterly consumer study that focuses on the emerging technology devices and services that are shaping media use today. The Takeways:

• Radio is America's top weekly reach platform, both overall and with Black and Hispanic consumers; 75 million of whom tune in each week. In the first quarter of 2018, radio reached 92% of Black consumers each week and 96% of Hispanic consumers.
• In each of the past five years, more than 30 million Black consumers and 40 million Hispanic consumers have tuned in to the radio each week for entertainment, music and news. And when we look at the overall radio audience, the national radio audience is approximately 14% Black and 17% Hispanic.
• Black and Hispanic consumers are also trailblazers when it comes to interest in and adoption of smart speakers and audio streaming services. According to Nielsen's new syndicated MediaTech Trender Report, 52% of Black consumers and 45% of Hispanic consumers use streaming services for music, radio and podcasts.