According to the quarterly report The Record, released by Nielsen and Edison Research, audio accounts for nearly 20% of media daily time. In Q3 2024, that translated to three hours and 57 minutes of daily listening across ad-supported and ad-free platforms like radio, podcasts, streaming music services, and satellite radio.
While the report from The Record shows a snapshot of audio listening in Q3 2024, research continues to show that nine out of 10 Americans listen to radio every day. An iHeartMedia survey revealed that 84% of respondents said radio understands what is important to them, a number that is over 20% greater than network and cable television and social media. In addition, eight out of 10 people feel that radio aligns with their core values, which is number one across all media.
From July to September, listeners spent 67% of their daily time with ad-supported audio with radio, 18% with podcasts, 11% with streaming audio services, and 3% with satellite radio. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, radio now accounts for the majority of daily time spent with ad-supported audio, growing to 51% in the past quarter from 48% in the second quarter. The listening share for podcasts (31%) among the same audience decreased for the second quarter in a row, down from 35% in Q2 and 37% in Q1.
According to the report, it’s not just younger listeners who are tuning into radio. At every age, consumers spend more than half of their daily ad-supported audio time with radio, and listeners 35 and older give nearly 75% of their audio time to radio.
“With U.S. election news heating up and key sporting events in the third quarter, we saw the share of streaming listening for news and sports programming increase,” the report read. “Streaming ‘shares’ were also noticeably higher this quarter for both adult contemporary and urban adult contemporary/R&B, while classic rock shares remained elevated — a common trend seen during summer months when listening often peaks compared to the rest of the year.”