Nielsen: N/T, Sports Lead During October

Election Day is just about a week away, and as one could expect the effects of the final weeks of the campaign for the White House are rippling across radio.

Americans are tuning in, turning on and consuming the steady stream of news and information available across platforms. This thirst for coverage of the U.S. presidential race is evident in everything from the debate viewership numbers to this month’s radio listening results for the News/Talk format.

The release of Nielsen’s portable people meter (PPM) ratings for October reveal that News/Talk stations are continuing to grow their audience, as has been the case over much of the past year. This month’s 9.9% share of audience among all listeners 6 and older is a sharp uptick from a year ago (9.1% in October 2015), and represents significant growth for the format from the summer months of June and July, when News/Talk was a full share point lower (8.9% in June).

These results show a rising tide for News/Talk, with audience growth happening across the board. And while this growth is expected during a presidential election year, it’s worth noting that the 25-54 audience to the format reached its highest point this month (7.3%) in more than three years.