Even Heavy Radio Listeners Use Other Media

Radio is declining in influence in the U.S., but it’s still quite formidable thanks to its “heavy listeners” or those who consume more than one hour of radio per day, according to the latest study by Edison Research. It’s annual Infinite Dial report, conducted in partnership with Triton Digital, states that 30% of the American population over the age of 12 can now be defined as Heavy Radio Listeners, with most of those between the ages of 45 and 64.

The report also found that:

• Almost 18% of Heavy Radio Listeners don’t even have a radio receiver in their home, which means that most of their listening comes through either in-car or at-work listening.

• 20% of Heavy Radio Listeners have Smart Speakers in their homes, which means that they may listen more at home, but it’s also easier to use audio services other than radio as well.

• Nearly 66% of Heavy Radio Listeners listen to audio online, including YouTube, Pandora, and the streams of AM and FM radio stations.

• 46% of listeners consume music from YouTube on a given week.

• Among heavy radio listeners with a smartphone (82%), the most commonly downloaded audio app is Pandora, at 40%. This is followed by Spotify at 25%, and then 20% of heavy radio listeners have downloaded the app of a radio station onto their phones.

• Only 16% of listeners tune into Spotify, and 9% to Apple Music. Over 1 in 6 Heavy Radio Listeners say they have listened to a podcast in the last week.

• Heavy Radio Listeners are generally employed and well-educated.

• Heavy users are all about audio and listen to all sources that are available, which has implications for smart-speaker behavior in the future.

What all this tells us is that while listeners still listen to the radio a great deal, they’re also consuming audio programming from other sources as well. The trick is to look at these numbers over time to see just how much of that radio listening decreases in favor of other sources.