U.S. podcast and online audio consumption have reached all-time highs, according to The Infinite Dial® 2026, released by Edison Research at SSRS with support from SiriusXM Media.
Presented by Megan Lazovick, Vice President of Edison Research at SSRS, with James Cridland, Editor of Podnews, the study provides critical insights into digital media behaviors, and, debuting this year, generative AI adoption among American consumers.
Key Findings from The Infinite Dial® 2026:
- Online Audio Reaches an All-Time High 81% of Americans age 12+ (233 million) listened to online audio in the last month, and 76% (219 million) listened in the last week Americans age 55+ are driving the most recent increases.
- Monthly online audio listening among this group jumped from 52% in 2024 to 70% in 2026, a gain of nearly 20 percentage points in just two years
- Podcast Consumption Sets New Records 80% of Americans age 12+ (230 million) have ever listened to or watched a podcast, an all-time high 58% of Americans age 12+ (167 million) have consumed a podcast in the last month, also an all-time high;
- 68% of 35-54-year-olds have consumed a podcast in the last month, making podcasting a powerful vehicle for reaching one of advertising’s most valued demographics 45% of Americans age 12+ (130 million) have consumed a podcast in the last week – yet another all-time high for podcast consumption Among Americans age 12+, 57% have both listened to and watched a podcast
Generative AI Being Adopted in Massive Numbers
- 93% of Americans age 12+ are familiar with at least one generative AI brand — a level of awareness that podcasting has not yet achieved after more than 20 years of measurement
- 57% of Americans age 12+ have ever used a generative AI assistant, a milestone that took podcasting 16 years to reach AI users are significantly more engaged across digital media;
- 87% listened to online audio in the last week compared to 61% of non-users, and more than half of AI users are weekly podcast consumers, versus roughly one-third of AI non-users
- Awareness of Claude AI from Anthropic increased by 58% between early February and mid-March 2026.
- Social media platform preference varies sharply by age.
- TikTok is now the most-used social media platform among Americans ages 12-34, preferred by 29% of that group. Facebook is used most often by 40% of social media users and is dominant among those 55 and older.
- X skews male and ages 35-54, while Snapchat’s audience is overwhelmingly under 35
- Nine in ten Americans age 12+ have ever used YouTube; 84% use YouTube monthly and 78% use YouTube weekly