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Thursday, May 30, 2024

Radio Remains Top Audio Platform

Podcast reach continues to grow in the US, with almost half of Americans ages 12 and older now listening to podcasts on at least a monthly basis. Along with this audience expansion, podcasts are increasing their share of ad-supported audio listening time in the US, according to data from Edison Research in collaboration with Nielsen.

The researchers examined the share of US adults’ daily time spent with various ad-support audio types, noting that ad-supported audio “represents the most important part of the audio landscape to advertisers.”


The analysis reveals that podcasts occupied 20% share of US adults’ daily ad-supported audio time during the first quarter of the year, ahead of ad-supported streaming audio (10%) and ad-supported satellite radio channels (3%).

Radio was by the far the dominant form of ad-supported audio listening, at 2 in every 3 minutes (67% share).

However, when narrowing to adults ages 18-34, the data shows that podcasts are growing to rival radio. Indeed, young American adults spent 37% of their daily ad-supported audio time with podcasts during Q1, close behind radio (45% share).


By contrast, adults ages 35 and older spent an-almost 6 times greater share of their daily ad-supported audio time with radio (74%) than with podcasts (13%).

Research shows that podcasts are especially appealing to the 25-34 age group, who are more likely to tune in than any other age bracket. Advertisers looking to reach these younger Americans are finding more inventory available to them: podcast ad loads grew to a new record high in the first quarter of this year, as more than 8% of the average episode was dedicated to ads.

Meanwhile, Nielsen and Edison Research reveal that spoken word formats – inclusive of News and Sports – have a higher share of audience for streaming radio than for total radio (over-the-air and streaming combined). Spoken word has become a force in audio listening, climbing to 31% share of total audio listening time last year, up from 20% in 2014. Podcast listening has become more prevalent within that category, rising to 36% share of spoken word audio time in 2023, up from 13% in 2014.

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