Yes the number of ways to listen has grown dramatically; yes we are in a golden age of content being available everywhere. And still, says Nielsen, broadcast radio “remains the top way to reach consumers across all media platforms.”
It bases the conclusion on its latest Comparable Metrics Report. “AM/FM radio continues to reach significantly more people each week than any other medium in the U.S. at 228.5 million adults 18+ compared with 216.5 million for TV (live, DVR and time-shifted), 204 million for app/web on a smartphone, and 127.6 million for video on a smartphone,” it stated in a blog post.
“Looking at the audio landscape, broadcast radio’s weekly reach of 228.5 million also outpaces the 67.6 million for streaming audio, 35.9 million using satellite radio and 20.7 million consuming podcasts.”
Nielsen find that Americans use radio five days per week, compared with three days for streaming on smartphones and tablets, and two days for streaming on a computer. And looking at time spent for both radio and streaming audio, “when comparing gross minutes—the total time spent summed for all P18+ users—radio outpaces streaming audio by a factor of 14:1 in an average week.”
[Related: “New Research Reveals Podcast Listening Habits,” Sept. 2017]
The company said that if you add total minutes for AM/FM radio and streaming audio you get about 202 billion minutes per week, with AM/FM representing 93% of total weekly minutes, compared with roughly 7% for streaming audio.
It concludes: “As the audio landscape continues to expand, more and more options will become available to consumers as technology drives all media usage forward. Through all of these changes AM/FM radio continues to reach more people and garners the most time spent with audio.”
