The FCC, which concluded that broadcast radio reaches different listeners than online audio or satellite radio when setting ownership limits, says those principles remain. In its biannual report to Congress on the state of the telecommunications industries, the FCC says there remain “significant differences” in the availability, reach, consumer engagement, and cost of the services. Yet the report also acknowledges the audio market is evolving.
“While terrestrial broadcast radio remains dominant in some respects, the gap in usage between broadcast and online audio programming has declined over time,” the report says.
While some broadcasters have argued that the share of listeners for AM/FM radio has been declining due to increased competition from other platforms, the FCC tells Congress the data tells a different story. Stats show the number of weekly listeners to AM/FM radio in the U.S. remained relatively stable while the audience for online audio programming grew steadily.
The report leans into S&P Global data, which shows that during the past decade, the number of listeners of broadcast slipped a mere 0.3% on average, while the annual growth in online audio listeners was approximately 13%. The FCC acknowledges that since 2019, the number of weekly listeners of AM/FM has declined at a larger rate — 1.4% on average. The pandemic likely played a role as more remote work and less commute time have impacted in-car radio time, the Commission said.
Those workplace trends are reverting to pre-pandemic norms, so readers of the FCC’s report might conclude those listener dips are now reversing. But it does give the radio industry some ammunition as it looks to revive a bill in the new Congress to keep AM radio in dashboards.
“New cars, especially hybrids and EVs, deprioritize radio in the dashboard and in some cases lack AM antennas,” the report says. “Such factors could impede a recovery of AM/FM listenership to pre-pandemic levels.”
Even as the FCC says that AM/FM radio and online and satellite services each operate in their distinct universe, its report also acknowledges that the ubiquity of music “creates a challenge” for broadcasters and other music providers trying to differentiate themselves. “Streaming services allow their subscribers access to a much larger range and quantity of music than listeners can expect to hear on a terrestrial broadcast station, which is constrained to a linear format,” the Commission says.
The latest Communications Marketplace Report (GN Docket No. 24-119) was approved by a 3-2 vote this week, without the support of either Republican commissioner. Brendan Carr, who will lead the agency beginning Jan. 20, signals his approach to regulating industries will be different in the coming administration. Carr says the report “misses the mark” as the FCC focuses too much on picking “winners and losers,” and ignores that services no longer compete only in distinct and separate silos. He is also critical of the expansion of the report into various diversity and equity considerations, rather than remaining focused on the competitive indicators used in the past.
“The good news is that there will soon be an opportunity to correct course,” Carr says in a statement.
Commissioner Nathan Simington is also critical of the silo approach, complaining in the latest report “media” is either audio or visual content, regardless of how it is delivered, ignoring there are multiple ways to access content today.
“It is time for the Commission to modernize its understanding of the communications marketplace along several axes,” Simington says. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the future to help create, and implement, that new understanding.”
The next Communications Marketplace Report will be released in 2026. Read the current report HERE.