Blog: Podcasts & AM/FM Radio Dominate Ad-Supported Media

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, March 11, 2024

Cumulus Media and Westwood One

Edison Research's quarterly "Share of Ear" study is an examination of time spent with audio in America. The firm surveys 4,000 Americans annually to measure daily reach and time spent with all forms of audio. This analysis focuses on what advertisers care about -- ad-supported audio. This week's Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group blog outlines seven key findings from the just released Q4 2023 "Share of Ear" study.

• Advertisers need to "take the me out of media" as they wildly overestimate Spotify and Pandora audiences and dramatically understate AM/FM radio's shares.

• AM/FM radio represents the dominant ad-supported audio platform with a 68% overall share and a massive 86% in-car share.

• In a typical day in America, 95% of Americans never listen to ad-supported Spotify. 94% never listen to ad-supported Pandora.

• Podcasts' audiences soar. At a 20% share of ad-supported audio, podcasts now represent one out of every five minutes of U.S. ad-supported audio.

• Among registered voters, AM/FM radio leads in ad-supported audience share (68%) followed by podcasts (21%).

• After a pandemic lull, the proportion of AM/FM radio listening occurring in-car roars back.

• Powered by podcasts, spoken word is on a tear: 40% of all time with ad-supported audio goes to spoken word, up from 27% pre-pandemic.