Nielsen: Public Radio TSL Increases With Age

According to a new Nielsen report—which specifically focused on this type of programming at over 900 stations in large and small markets—public radio reaches 32 million people 12 years old or older on a weekly basis.

And the diverse programming of public radio draws a diverse mix of listeners. In fact, nearly 8% of English or Spanish speaking Hispanics in the U.S. and almost 10% of African-Americans tune in to public radio each week.

However, it seems the older the listener is, the more apt that listener will adopt in-home listening to public radio.

For instance, while 6.3 million Millennials 18-34 tune in to public radio each week, a little over one-third (35%) of them do so at home. Generation X, those 35-49 years old, exhibit similar at-home listening behavior when it comes to public radio (37%). But when it comes to Baby Boomers (aged 50-64), in-home and out-of-home listening of public radio is nearly equal—49% and 51%, respectively. Listeners also spend more time listening to public radio as they get older. Boomers spend six hours listening to public radio, nearly double that of Millennials (3 hours 15 minutes).