Radio’s core audience is aging rapidly and shifting away from traditional over-the-air listening, according to Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey 2026.
The annual survey of nearly 31,000 P1 (primary) listeners from 506 U.S. commercial radio stations shows broadcast now accounts for just 54% of time spent with favorite stations in a typical week — down from 59% last year — while digital platforms have climbed to 44%.
The once-dominant gap between broadcast and digital has narrowed from 71 points in 2013 to only 10 points today.
Among younger respondents, the shift is even further along: Gen Z listeners already prefer digital (49%) slightly over broadcast (48%), while Millennials split 52% broadcast to 46% digital. The average respondent is now 58.4 years old, up from 58.0 in 2025 and 55.5 in 2023. One in three is 65 or older, compared to one in four just three years ago. Boomers represent 45% of the sample, Gen X 40%, Millennials 12%, and Gen Z only 2%.
Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs noted the same aging trend appears in the company’s public radio and Christian-format surveys, indicating it reflects the makeup of station email databases rather than a sampling anomaly. He challenged the industry’s long-standing habit of dismissing listeners 55+ as “out-of-demo,” pointing out that device ownership and digital behavior in this group have risen sharply since COVID.
Smart TV ownership among those 55+ has increased 16 points since 2021 to 75%, weekly streaming audio use has reached 72%, and smart speaker ownership has jumped from 30% to 42%. AI usage in the cohort rose from 3% in 2024 to 14% this year.
In the car — once radio’s strongest domain — AM/FM listening has fallen to 50% of weekday in-car audio time, down from 62% in 2018. SiriusXM holds 20%, streaming audio 10%. Connected car infotainment system ownership has grown from 24% to 40% over the same period, with the two trend lines moving in near-perfect opposition.
At home, working radios that respondents actually use have dropped to an all-time low of 72%, down from 83% in 2018. Among Millennials, the figure is just 61%.
The survey was conducted online from January 7 to February 8 and weighted to Nielsen 2025 market population data. It represents station database members, not the broader U.S. population. Audacy’s return to the survey this year created the largest year-over-year sample shift in recent history, which may explain some of the observed trends.