Americans Spend More Time Listening Via Mobile Devices

On Friday, Dec. 16, Edison Research presented its “Top 10 Findings of 2022.” Findings detailed everything from podcast consumption both nationally and globally and smart speaker ownership to in-car listening habits among different generations.

For those of us in the radio and broadcast industries, some of the most pertinent information delved into how our audiences are accessing their audio in and out of the car, reports Radio World's Elle Kehres.

Per Edison Research’s 2022 report, Americans now spend more time with audio through a mobile device than a traditional AM/FM radio receiver.

In 2014, around half of all daily audio content was listened to via a traditional receiver. This year, the mobile phone has just barely surpassed the AM/FM receiver, as can be seen on the graph below. It’s important to note that this data specifically refers to audio hardware, not radio content in general, which can be listened to in many ways via smart speakers, mobile phones, tablets, etc.

Mobile devices have already surpassed traditional radio receivers in the younger age groups. Among those age 13-34, 46% of total daily audio consumption is done on a mobile device and 20% is done on a traditional AM/FM radio receiver.  

It is important to note that these statistics speak to device only, not the audio product that is delivered by the device. Mobile devices can deliver a wide range of audio products, including radio station programming.