Politics Evident In Mellennial Radio Listening

Country radio is America’s top format among listeners 18-34 years old, with more than 66 million tuning in to these stations each week. Still, reports Nielsen, while Country is the preferred format for Millennials, other formats also apppeal to this young and diverse demographic.

In particular, Urban radio, which mixes increasingly popular hip-hop tunes with R&B and rap, has seen listenership among 25-to-34 year-olds rise an impressive 35% from 2011 to 2015.

Overall, Country radio listeners largely mirror the total U.S. radio audience, though they represent a larger share of Mild Republicans and a smaller share of Independent voters. Still, just as many Democratic voters listen to Country radio as Republican voters in the country’s top markets.


Beyond the more general Country radio format, two other kinds of Country radio—New Country and Classic Country—reach slightly more nuanced listener groups. New Country stations tend to skew younger since their playlist is made up of more current hits, while Classic Country tends to skew older since their playlist is made up of more familiar Country songs from the past. Given that young voters are much less likely to be affiliated with a specific party than older voters, it’s not surprising that roughly 31% of the New Country audience are Unregistered, which is six points higher than the U.S. average. Meanwhile, Classic Country listeners lean heavily conservative: 39% of the audience is registered Republican, and more than two-thirds of this group classify themselves as Ultra Conservatives—13 points higher than the U.S. average. In addition, of the 36% of the audience registered Democrat, the majority identify as Conservative Democrats.


Overall, Urban format radio stations, including Urban Adult Contemporary and Urban Oldies, lean heavily Democrat.