The upcoming Independence Day weekend should be a good one for traditional radio — more than 60 million people will be hitting the highway.
That’s according to travel group AAA, which puts the exact number at a record 60.6 million, up from 2.8 million in 2023. That figure also tops the pre-pandemic 2019 total of 55.3 million car travelers.
AAA projects that nearly 71 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday weekend, up 5% vs. last year and 8% over 2019.
“With summer vacations in full swing and the flexibility of remote work, more Americans are taking extended trips around Independence Day,” said Paula Twidale, Senior VP of AAA Travel. “We anticipate this July 4th week will be the busiest ever with an additional 5.7 million people traveling compared to 2019.”
When Americans travel, radio is frequently along for the ride. A recent report found an overwhelming majority of consumers listen to some kind of audio when they’re in their vehicle, with AM/FM dominating the action.
“Connected Car Entertainment Trends,” released by Xperi subsidiary DTS, reported that 70% of consumers said they tune in to AM/FM radio to listen to music, well ahead of music streaming services (53%) and satellite radio (30%).