With the renewed love for audio in recent years, spurred by podcasting, and the onslaught of new technologies for consumers to listen, radio’s reach among the U.S. population is still massive. That’s according to the latest Audio Today report from Nieslen.
Nielsen reports that radio still reaches 93% of the American population. That includes 93% of the 18+ population and 98% of the 50 and over crowd. The 18-34 demo is the lowest, but still stands at 87% according to Nielsen. The ratings firm concludes that “only AM/FM radio can deliver the scale advertisers need.”
Radio often gets criticized for not being relevant to the younger generations. According to Nielsen, in that 18-34 demo, where radio reaches 87%, no other audio service comes close. Spotify lands at 41%, Pandora 21%, Apple Music 18%, Amazon Music at 14% and Satellite Radio at 7%. Nielsen states that radio generates 55% more incremental reach than streaming music, podcasting and satellite radio.
The radio industry has recognized that many listeners, while still listening, are moving to their streams. Nielsen’s report confirms that theory. In Q3 of 2020, 7% of radio’s listeners were doing so on a radio station stream. In Q1 of this year that number jumped to 12%.
Nielsen also reported the obvious, that radio’s most out-of-home use was being done in the car. And, that 70% of all radio listening is done outside the home.
As mentioned earlier in this story, podcasting has helped fueled a new surge in audio listening. The Nielsen report states that half of daily podcast listeners started listening to podcasts in the past two years alone. And, they are listening to more shows, more often. The increase in podcast listening started with the pandemic, according to Nielsen.
