Report: Talk Dominates Radio

Sorry TV titans and fancy producers, but the American media landscape is not dominated by streaming video, Sunday night football and vampire dramas. Here’s the realty check. The Washington Times reports , it’s syndicated talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity — plus their fellow broadcast talkers — who are the winners.

None other than Nielsen Media Research reveals some stark facts about public preference.

“According to Nielsen audience measurement data, adults 18 and older in the U.S. spend just shy of six hours (5 hours, 51 minutes) with their TV-connected devices each week. While that’s nothing to thumb your nose at, it’s dwarfed by the amount of time Americans spend with traditional radio, the proverbial patriarch of the media industry. In fact, radio commands nearly 12 hours (11 hours, 51 minutes) of our weekly media diets — that’s almost four hours more than a typical work day,” Nielsen says.

“But it’s not enough to simply know how much time people spend with radio. Capitalizing on the opportunities with the original electronic mass media hinges on knowing who’s listening to what, where and when. At a broad level, the news/talk format remains the most popular genre on the radio — a designation it’s held for nearly a decade. And with the U.S. presidential election coming up next year, the appeal of news/talk will likely remain strong in 2020,” the industry group advises.

It also found that “adult contemporary” radio and country music place second and third, respectively — followed by a dozen other categories which share portions of the audience. Limbaugh, incidentally, is the leading radio talk show host, drawing 15.5 million listeners. Hannity ranks second with 15 million according to Talkers Magazine, which tracks the trends. Dave Ramsey is in third pace with 14 million, followed by Mark Levin (11 million) and Glenn Beck (10.5 million) to round out the top five.