Audio Streaming Growth Continues

Digital audio streaming has more than tripled in the last five years, as a growing number of consumers use digital platforms to access audio entertainment. According to Triton Digital, in October, the number of U.S. streaming sessions hit 4.867 million during the M-F 6am-8pm daypart, up from about 1.5 million in Q1 2011.

And, according to InsideRadio,  things haven’t begun to slow down: Since then, digital streaming has been growing steadily every quarter and shows no signs of letting up.

Digital listening complements terrestrial radio listening patterns; radio’s primetime periods during morning and afternoon drive bookend streaming’s heaviest usage, with digital peaking from 11am-1pm, Triton reports. On weekends, streaming sessions are lighter, but still follow a similar pattern where usage builds throughout the morning, peaks from 11am-1pm and gradually falls off through the afternoon.

Among formats, AC posted the largest listening gains in October, up 9.5% over September, followed by urban contemporary (8.7%); country (6.7%); modern AC (6.7%) and urban AC (6.2%). Spoken-word formats posted mixed results in October, with sports up 2.9%, news/talk down 4.5% and talk down 4.8%. Digital listening increased in 14 of the top 15 markets in October, led by Miami, which was up 9.6%. The only market to show a drop in listening was San Francisco, off 15.5%.

Among radio broadcasters, iHeartRadio ranked as the most listened-to digital publisher in October, averaging 406,068 AASs during the M-F, 6am-8pm daypart, followed by Cumulus with 62,294 AASs; NPR Member Stations (57,970); and CBS Radio (51,908). Rounding out the top ten were ESPN Radio (25,978), Entercom (25,452) and Univision (23,661).

Pandora (with 2.46 million AASs) and Spotify (1.47 million) again dominated among pureplays.