Report: Radio Reaches 93% of U.S. Adults Weekly

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Nielsen's Q1 2015 Total Audience Report focuses on the reach of audiences on different devices for the first time, as well as how often consumers are utilizing them. The report found that radio and traditional television still have the largest reach of any of the platforms analyzed. Specifically, radio reaches nearly 93% of U.S. adults, or 223 million adult listeners weekly, while television reaches 87% of adult viewers (209 million) and smartphones actually with a weekly reach of 70% (167 million).

"We're excited to showcase a true apple-to-apples comparison over different consumer options and ways to both view and listen," says Dounia Turrill, SVP Insights, Nielsen. "And by doing do, we have given the industry an impartial look not just on how many consumers are connecting with devices and platforms but how much and for how long."

How long consumers spend on devices differs greatly, not just among the ways to connect, but among age and race/ethnic demographics as well. In this regard, television and radio still top the list, with all adults spending about 36 and 13 hours, respectively, on these platforms weekly. However, adults 18-34 years old spend nearly 10 hours per week with smartphones -- about an hour more than they spend on PCs and tablets combined.

Among multicultural consumers, black viewers spend over 51 hours weekly with television -- over 42% higher than the general population. And Hispanic consumers notch the greatest weekly time spent on both radio (13 hours 38 minutes) and on smartphones (9 hours 54 minutes), be it with video, streaming audio or utilizing a social network.

The share of overall time spent among radio, television and digital platforms (PC, smartphone and tablets) also found clear cut generational differences. while 55% of adults' overall time spent comes from television, among people 18-34 a tug of war between linear and digital has seemingly ensued, with nearly 36% of this young group's time spent consuming content coming from the latter. Advertisers looking for a stable medium across generational boundaries might want to consider radio. Among all the demos, radio remained a consistent near 20% of overall time spent.