YouGov: Radio Tops Podcasts for News Consumption

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, June 29, 2026 | 2:53pm CT

YouGov

AM/FM radio continues to hold a significant place in Americans' news consumption habits, outperforming podcasts, print publications and AI chatbots as a monthly news source, according to YouGov's latest Trust in Media survey.

The national survey of 2,102 U.S. adults, conducted May 25-26, found that 28% of respondents said they used radio for news during the previous month. While social media (60%), television (56%), friends and family (45%), news websites (39%) and search engines (29%) ranked ahead of radio, the medium outpaced news apps (26%), podcasts (21%), email newsletters (20%), online news aggregators (18%), video platforms (15%), print newspapers (14%), magazines (10%), blogs (9%) and AI chatbots (6%).

Radio news listening was strongest among older, more affluent and college-educated Americans. Thirty-six percent of college graduates reported using radio for news, compared with 24% of adults without a degree. Among households earning $100,000 or more annually, 39% said they got news from radio, versus 22% of those earning less than $50,000. Adults age 65 and older posted the highest usage at 34%, while just 17% of adults ages 18-29 reported turning to radio for news.

Political differences in radio news use were relatively narrow. Republicans (30%) and Democrats (31%) reported nearly identical levels of radio news consumption, while 25% of Independents said they used radio for news. By 2024 presidential vote, 36% of Donald Trump voters reported using radio for news, compared with 32% of Kamala Harris voters. Men also outpaced women, 32% to 25%.

The survey also highlighted the continuing trust challenges facing many digital platforms. Social media remained the most widely used source of news, but Facebook recorded a net trust rating of minus-24, TikTok minus-32 and X minus-21. Journalism as a profession earned a positive net favorability rating of 23, while "the news media" as a whole was rated neutral. Among individual news organizations, NPR posted a net trust score of plus-15.

Artificial intelligence continues to emerge as a news source, although adoption remains limited. Six percent of respondents said they used AI chatbots for news in the past month, including 10% who specifically cited ChatGPT and 7% who used Google's Gemini. Meanwhile, 46% of Americans reported seeing what they believed was AI-generated content online every day.

Overall interest in news remained strong. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they consume both national and local news either very often or somewhat often, underscoring continued demand for trusted news sources across multiple platforms.

Download the entire study here.