Broadcast radio remains a large audio channel, but its reported scale depends on the definition used. The figures below distinguish terrestrial AM/FM, radio streams, broader online audio, podcasts, and satellite radio, while identifying the population, geography, and measurement period for each statistic.
Key Broadcast Radio Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- In 2022, 82% of Americans age 12 and older listened to terrestrial AM/FM radio in a given week in the United States.
- In 2024, U.S. listeners spent 67% of daily ad-supported audio time with radio in Nielsen’s Q2 Share of Ear framework.
- In Q2 2024, Americans spent 4 hours 5 minutes per day with audio across ad-supported and ad-free platforms.
- In 2023, online audio reached 75% of Americans age 12 and older in the past month.
- In 2024, 60% of Americans age 12 and older had a traditional AM/FM radio set in their home.
- In 2024, 70% of U.S. adults who had driven or ridden in a car during the prior month had ever listened to radio in their primary car audio system.
- In Q1 2024, more than 80% of in-car ad-supported audio time went to radio in the United States.
- In Q2 2025, News/Talk accounted for 10.9% of all radio listening among U.S. persons age 18 and older.
- In Q2 2025, Adult Contemporary accounted for 7.2% of all radio listening among U.S. persons age 18 and older.
- In Q2 2025, All Sports represented 10.4% of AM/FM station streaming among U.S. persons age 18 and older.
- In 2024, Norway’s weekly radio net reach was 83.1% of the population.
- In 2024, Norwegian radio listeners spent 136 minutes per day listening on average among radio listeners.
- In 2024, AM/FM/DAB+ radio over the air or online reached 81% of weekly Australian audio listeners age 12 and older.
- In 2024, 88% of Australians age 18 and older who rode in a car during the prior month used radio as an in-car audio source.
- In February 2024, 45% of radio listening occasions in Nielsen PPM markets were shorter than five minutes.
- In 2021, average all-news U.S. radio-station revenue was estimated at $17.9 million.
Contents
- Broadcast radio reach and listening time
- Broadcast radio by age and audio platform
- AM/FM radio in cars and homes
- Broadcast radio format listening shares
- Broadcast radio statistics in Norway and Australia
- Radio measurement, streaming, and revenue trends
Broadcast Radio Reach and Listening Time
Terrestrial radio means AM/FM broadcasting in the Pew historical series. Nielsen’s later Share of Ear figures use “radio” for over-the-air and streaming radio, so the two measures should not be treated as identical.
| Measure | Result | Population and period |
|---|---|---|
| Terrestrial-radio weekly reach | 82% | U.S. age 12+, 2022 |
| Terrestrial-radio weekly reach | 89% | U.S. age 12+, 2019 |
| Terrestrial-radio weekly reach | 83% | U.S. age 12+, 2020 |
| Radio share of daily ad-supported audio | 67% | United States, Q2 2024 |
| Total daily audio time | 4 hours 5 minutes | United States, Q2 2024 |
Pew reports the terrestrial figures using Nielsen data published by the Radio Advertising Bureau. The 2020 observation was an unusual pandemic-year measurement, and the series is historical rather than a forecast; Pew Research Center’s audio and podcasting fact sheet provides the source context.
In Q2 2024, podcasts represented 19% of daily ad-supported audio time, streaming audio services represented 11%, and satellite radio represented 3% in the United States. Streaming audio services exclude radio in that comparison, while satellite radio is separate from broadcast radio; Nielsen’s Q2 U.S. audio listening trends reports the platform shares.
Broadcast Radio by Age and Audio Platform
Age groups show how radio fits into a broader audio environment. Among U.S. adults ages 18–34, radio still represented 48% of daily ad-supported audio time in Q2 2024, while podcasts represented 35%; Nielsen includes over-the-air and streaming radio in the radio category.
Online audio is broader than broadcast radio because it includes online terrestrial-radio streams and internet-only audio. In 2023, the United States recorded the following reported reach levels:
- Online audio reached 75% of Americans age 12 and older in the past month.
- Online audio reached 70% of Americans age 12 and older in the past week.
- Monthly podcast listening reached 42% of Americans age 12 and older.
- Weekly podcast listening reached 31% of Americans age 12 and older.
These are survey measures with different channel definitions, not a single ranking of audio services. The online-audio and podcast figures come from Pew Research Center’s audio and podcasting fact sheet, which notes that its historical online-audio series uses Edison Research surveys conducted in January and February.
AM/FM Radio Statistics in Cars and Homes
Radio access remains especially visible in cars, where the comparison is between currently-ever use of audio sources rather than daily listening. In 2024, among U.S. adults age 18 and older who drove or rode in a car during the prior month, radio had the highest reported current-ever use of the listed sources.
| Primary car audio measure | Share | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Radio | 70% | Currently ever listened in primary car system |
| Online audio | 55% | Currently ever listened in primary car system |
| Podcasts | 32% | Currently ever listened in primary car system |
| Android Auto or Apple CarPlay | 32% | Had the connectivity feature |
The connectivity figure describes availability, not radio listening. The underlying survey also found that 60% of Americans age 12 and older had a traditional AM/FM radio set in their home in 2024; The Infinite Dial 2024 is the source for both household and in-car measures.
Nielsen’s Q1 2024 ad-supported audio analysis offers a separate time-share measure: more than 80% of in-car ad-supported audio time went to radio in the United States. That figure combines over-the-air and streaming radio, so it is not directly equivalent to the survey’s current-ever use percentages; the source is Nielsen’s quarterly audio insights release.
Broadcast Radio Format Listening Shares
Nielsen’s Q2 2025 format table uses PPM Cross-Market Average Quarter-Hour Share, Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight, and includes commercial and non-commercial stations. The all-radio denominator combines over-the-air and streaming radio; streaming-only shares use a different denominator.
| Format | All radio, U.S. 18+ | AM/FM station streaming, U.S. 18+ |
|---|---|---|
| News/Talk | 10.9% | 23.5% |
| Adult Contemporary | 7.2% | — |
| Country | 6.2% | — |
| Classic Hits | 5.9% | — |
| Classic Rock | 5.6% | — |
| All Sports | 4.6% | 10.4% |
The gap between the two columns reflects different denominators, not a direct conversion from one measure to the other. These Q2 2025 observations are a chronological snapshot, not a forecast; see Nielsen’s Q2 2025 data tables.
Age-specific results also vary by format:
- Among U.S. persons ages 18–34, Adult Contemporary held 7.9% of all radio listening, Country held 7.0%, and Pop Contemporary Hit Radio held 7.1% in Q2 2025; All Sports represented 11.8% of AM/FM station streaming.
- Among U.S. persons ages 25–54, Adult Contemporary held 7.1% and News/Talk 6.5% of all radio listening; Pop Contemporary Hit Radio represented 7.5% and All Sports 11.7% of AM/FM station streaming.
- Among U.S. persons age 35 and older, News/Talk held 12.4%, Adult Contemporary 7.1%, and Classic Hits 6.0% of all radio listening; All Sports represented 10.1% of AM/FM station streaming.
Broadcast Radio Statistics in Norway and Australia
Country comparisons are useful only when their denominators are kept visible. Norway’s Nielsen Radio Audio Measurement reports population-wide net reach, while some Australian figures describe weekly audio listeners or adults who rode in a car during the prior month.
| Country and measure | Result | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| Norway daily radio net reach | 58.0% | 2024, population-wide |
| Norway weekly radio net reach | 83.1% | 2024, population-wide |
| Norway radio listening time | 136 minutes/day | 2024, radio listeners |
| Norway age 65+ listening time | 203 minutes/day | 2024, radio listeners age 65+ |
| Norway daily in-car radio listeners | 1,626,000 or 33.4% | 2024, population |
| Norway in-car listening time | 44 minutes/day | 2024, in-car radio listeners |
NRK held 66% of Norway’s radio market share in 2024, while P4-group held 22.1%. Those are broadcaster shares among radio listening, not population reach; the source is Nielsen’s Norway 2024 radio report.
In Australia, AM/FM/DAB+ radio over the air or online reached 81% of weekly audio listeners age 12 and older in 2024. Among Australians age 18 and older who rode in a car during the prior month, 88% used radio as an in-car audio source, while in-car streaming-radio listening increased 75% over two years by 2024; these measures describe combined or streaming radio as specified, not exclusively terrestrial listening.
The same Australian study found that 34% of people age 12 and older owned a smart speaker in 2024, and 65% of smart-speaker owners listened to audio through the device during the prior month. Audio through a smart speaker includes more than broadcast radio; see The Infinite Dial 2024 Australia.
Radio Measurement, Streaming, and Revenue Trends
Audience measurement can change how short listening occasions are credited. In February 2024, 45% of radio listening occasions in 48 Nielsen PPM markets were shorter than five minutes, and Nielsen said such occasions could be un-credited under the then-current measurement approach.
| Occasion length | Share of radio occasions | Nielsen PPM markets, February 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| One minute | 7% | 48 markets |
| Two minutes | 15% | 48 markets |
| Three minutes | 13% | 48 markets |
| Four minutes | 10% | 48 markets |
| Five minutes | 55% | 48 markets |
These figures describe measurement distribution, not a change in underlying listening demand. The methodology discussion appears in Modernizing PPM Audio Measurement.
Nielsen’s Q1 2024 all-radio format shares among U.S. listeners age 18 and older were 10.8% for News/Talk, 8.6% for Adult Contemporary, and 5.9% each for Classic Hits and Country. In the streaming-only view, News/Talk represented 21.7% and All Sports 8.6% of streaming radio-station listening among U.S. audiences age 18 and older; the source cautions that the denominator differs.
Revenue estimates add an industry-finance perspective but cover only all-news stations. Pew’s analysis of MEDIA Access Pro and BIA Advisory Services data found that average all-news radio-station revenue fell 24% in 2020 and rose 13% in 2021, then estimated average annual revenue at $17.9 million in 2021 and $17.8 million in 2022; these are not estimates of total broadcast-radio revenue.
The historical revenue analysis is reported by Pew Research Center.