Insights: 65 Percent of Audio Listening Occurs Away From Home

Nielsen last week released their Audio Today 2023 report looking at how Americans listen to AM/FM radio, podcasts, streaming, and satellite radio. 

According to Nielsen, the report also outlines AM/FM radio streaming’s growth "as a portion of the overall radio audience, plus listening location, time of day, timely new podcast insights (courtesy of Nielsen Scarborough) and a deep dive into the listening habits and format preferences of nearly 20 unique audience segments.” 

This week’s Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® blog highlights the key findings.

• The report reveals AM/FM radio reaches 91% of all 18+ Americans monthly, more than TV, smartphones, TV connected devices, PCs, and tablets. According to Nielsen Scarborough, AM/FM radio outreaches all audio platforms, both ad-free and ad-supported.
• Every advertiser has two jobs: convert existing demand and create future demand. AM/FM radio is perfect for creating future demand as advertisers can target very broad audiences of all category buyers. For advertisers, ad-supported platforms matter most as that’s where ads can be placed. Among ad-supported audio, AM/FM radio dominates: 91% of Americans are reached by AM/FM radio monthly.
• In an average week, 65% of all AM/FM radio listening takes place away from the home. 44% of all AM/FM radio listening occurs in car. 19% occurs at work and 2% occurs in some other place.
• Nielsen’s data is corroborated by Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” report. The gold standard audio time use study, “Share of Ear” reveals AM/FM radio is the “queen of the road” with a nearly 90% dominant share of in-car ad-supported audio.