Radio remains a mass-reach medium while its listening ecosystem expands across DAB, connected cars, websites, apps, smart speakers and podcasts. The figures below distinguish weekly reach, listening-hour share, ownership, survey participation, licensed stations and advertising revenue across the United Kingdom and United States.
Key Radio Industry Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In Q2 2024, UK radio reached 88% of adults aged 15+, or 50.8 million people each week.
- In Q2 2024, UK digital-platform radio reached 77% of people aged 15+, or about 45 million adults each week.
- In Q2 2024, digital platforms represented 73.7% of all UK radio listening.
- In Q2 2024, DAB represented 42.8% of UK radio listening, up from 40.3% in Q2 2023.
- In Q2 2024, DAB represented 57.1% of UK in-car radio listening, compared with 51.2% a year earlier.
- In the period ending December 2024, all digital platforms accounted for 72.2% of UK radio listening.
- In 2024, 92% of UK respondents aged 16+ listened to some audio content in an average week.
- In 2024, music radio was used weekly by 61% of UK adults aged 16+.
- In 2024, speech radio was used weekly by 34% of UK adults aged 16+.
- In January 2024, 218 million Americans aged 12+ listened to online audio during the past month, according to Edison’s estimate.
- In 2024, monthly online-audio reach was 90% among Americans aged 12–34.
- In 2024, 70% of qualifying U.S. adults said they currently ever listened to radio in their primary car.
- In 2024, 60% of Americans aged 12+ reported having a traditional AM/FM radio set at home.
- In 2024, the FCC reported 9,144 licensed U.S. broadcast radio stations.
- In 2024, U.S. podcast advertising revenue reached $2.4331 billion.
- In 2024, U.S. podcast advertising revenue grew 26.4% year over year.
- In 2024, 47% of Americans aged 12+ listened to a podcast in the past month.
- In 2024, 34% of Americans aged 12+ listened to a podcast in the past week.
Contents
- Audience reach and listening time
- Platform trends and digital radio data
- AM/FM, online audio and connected cars
- U.S. station and broadcast scale
- Radio advertising and podcast revenue
- Content habits and audience segments
Radio Industry Audience Reach and Listening Time
RAJAR-related figures reported by WorldDAB show how reach and listening share describe different parts of the UK market. Weekly reach counts people who listened during the period, while platform share measures listening hours.
- In Q2 2024, UK radio reached 88% of adults aged 15+, equivalent to 50.8 million adults. WorldDAB: United Kingdom current situation and history
- In Q2 2024, UK digital-platform radio reached 77% of people aged 15+, or about 45 million adults. Digital platform includes DAB, digital television, websites and apps, and smart speakers. WorldDAB: United Kingdom current situation and history
- In Q2 2024, total digital radio listening represented 73.7% of all UK listening. This is a listening-time share, not a reach percentage. WorldDAB: United Kingdom current situation and history
Ofcom’s broader audio survey places radio inside a wider participation context. Its 2024 measure covers audio content generally, so it should not be read as radio-only reach.
- Ofcom found that 92% of UK respondents aged 16+ listened to some audio content in an average week in 2024.
- Weekly audio participation peaked at 97% among UK adults aged 35–44 in the 2024 survey.
Ofcom Audio Report 2024 reports these survey measures from 3,333 UK respondents aged 16+.
Radio Platform Trends and Digital Listening Data
Digital radio growth is visible both in overall listening and in the car, where DAB has become a substantial platform. The measures below are not interchangeable: some describe all listening hours, while others describe reach or infrastructure.
| UK measure | Earlier period | Later period | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAB share of all radio listening | 40.3% in Q2 2023 | 42.8% in Q2 2024 | Listening hours |
| DAB share of in-car radio listening | 51.2% in Q2 2023 | 57.1% in Q2 2024 | In-car radio listening |
| All digital share of radio listening | — | 72.2% in period ending December 2024 | DAB, DTV, websites/apps and smart speakers |
In the period ending December 2024, DAB reached 62.3% of the UK population, one percentage point higher year over year. DAB represented 42.7% of UK radio listening, while smart speakers represented 16.1% and websites/apps 10.9%; these are components of listening time, not reach percentages. WorldDAB: United Kingdom current situation and history
The infrastructure pipeline also matters for local and specialist services. WorldDAB reported 64 UK small-scale DAB multiplexes launched by October 2024, while the programme was designed to enable around 150 or more multiplexes across the four nations; Ofcom’s 2024 licensing round received 33 applications.
A multiplex is transmission infrastructure, not a station or audience count. WorldDAB: United Kingdom current situation and history
AM/FM Radio, Online Audio and Connected-Car Statistics
Edison’s Infinite Dial measures U.S. audio behavior among people aged 12+, with results weighted to national population figures from a January 2024 survey of 1,086 people. Online audio includes streams of AM/FM radio and internet-only audio, so it is broader than internet radio alone.
- Monthly online-audio reach was 76% among Americans aged 12+ in 2024, an estimated 218 million people.
- Monthly online-audio reach was 90% among Americans aged 12–34 and 85% among those aged 35–54 in 2024.
- Among U.S. adults aged 18+ who drove or rode in a car during the prior month, 70% said they currently ever listened to radio in their primary car.
- Sixty percent of Americans aged 12+ reported having a traditional AM/FM radio set in their home in 2024.
- Thirty-four percent of Americans aged 12+ reported owning a smart speaker in 2024, down from 36% in 2023.
- Among U.S. smart-speaker owners in 2024, 43% reported owning three or more smart speakers.
- Among qualifying U.S. adults, 32% had Android Auto or Apple CarPlay in their vehicle in 2024; vehicle-system presence does not establish radio use.
These figures show overlapping access points rather than a single connected-audio audience. The Infinite Dial 2024 provides the survey definitions and population scopes.
U.S. Radio Station and Broadcast Industry Scale
The FCC reported 9,144 licensed broadcast radio stations in its 2024 competition assessment. This is a count of licensed broadcast stations in the United States, not a count of owners, formats, active services or listeners. FCC 24-136: Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming
Survey sample sizes help explain the context behind audience percentages, but they are not measures of industry scale. Ofcom’s UK Audio Survey used 3,333 respondents aged 16+ for its top-five weekly audio chart, while Edison’s Infinite Dial used 1,086 people aged 12+.
A licensed-station total and an audience-reach estimate answer different questions: the former describes regulated broadcast infrastructure, while the latter describes measured participation in a defined population and period.
Radio Advertising and U.S. Podcast Revenue Statistics
Podcast advertising is adjacent digital-audio economics, not terrestrial-radio advertising. The IAB/PwC series reports U.S. podcast advertising revenue across a long historical sequence.
| Year | U.S. podcast advertising revenue |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $105.7 million |
| 2016 | $169.1 million |
| 2017 | $313.9 million |
| 2018 | $479.1 million |
| 2019 | $708.1 million |
| 2020 | $842.3 million |
| 2021 | $1.4487 billion |
| 2022 | $1.8253 billion |
| 2023 | $1.9252 billion |
| 2024 | $2.4331 billion |
The series records $2.4331 billion in U.S. podcast advertising revenue in 2024, up 26.4% year over year from 2023. Earlier values were $1.9252 billion in 2023, $1.8253 billion in 2022, $1.4487 billion in 2021, $842.3 million in 2020, $708.1 million in 2019, $479.1 million in 2018, $313.9 million in 2017, $169.1 million in 2016 and $105.7 million in 2015.
IAB/PwC had projected podcast advertising to exceed $2 billion in 2024 and to approach approximately $2.6 billion by 2026. The 2024 figure is reported as observed revenue in the same series, while the 2026 figure remains a forecast. IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2024
Radio Content Habits and Audio Audience Segments
Ofcom’s 2024 UK survey separates content categories and listener motivations. Weekly use can overlap across categories, and it is not the same as share of listening hours.
| UK audio type or behavior | Weekly result in 2024 | Population or denominator |
|---|---|---|
| Music radio | 61% | UK respondents aged 16+ |
| Online music services | 52% | UK respondents aged 16+ |
| Online music-video background listening | 43% | UK respondents aged 16+ |
| Stored digital music on a personal device | 41% | UK respondents aged 16+ |
| Speech radio | 34% | UK respondents aged 16+ |
Music radio was the most-used listed audio type at 61% weekly use, ahead of online music services at 52%. Speech radio’s 34% weekly use was reported as 27 percentage points below music radio’s 61%; the categories may overlap. Ofcom Audio Report 2024
Among UK music-radio listeners, 54% said they listened for background listening in 2024. Seventy-six percent particularly valued the music played on radio, while the comparable figure among local-radio listeners was 84%.
U.S. podcast participation provides adjacent evidence about how audio audiences segment by format and gender. Among U.S. women aged 12+, monthly podcast reach was 45% in 2024, up from 39% in 2023, while weekly reach was 32%, up from 27%; across all Americans aged 12+, monthly podcast reach was 47% and weekly reach was 34%. The Infinite Dial 2024
Edison also reported that 72% of Americans aged 12+ owned a smart TV in 2024. That is a connected-media context measure rather than a radio statistic, just as the reported 19% current-ever use of X—and its 30% decline from the 2023 result—describes digital-media context rather than radio listening. The Infinite Dial 2024