Radio audiences A window of opportunity
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20,000 foot view: Streaming claimed radio’s younger, music-focused audiences while podcasts are now beginning to do the same for older, spoken-word audiences. However, it is not yet determined that the impact needs to be as disruptive for radio companies. With radio audience declines slowing, and even experiencing a modest rebound, a window of opportunity exists for radio companies to become masters of their own destinies. But the window is small, and the required action will not be easy.
Key insights
- Radio listening in long-term, slow decline but from a Covid trough, with penetration going from in 2016 in 2022, but up from 2020 low
- Digital formats gaining ground – since 2020, radio listenership has been stable podcasts, audiobooks, and music streaming grew, including a six-point increase streaming
- Music radio the trend, growing four points the period to reach with US highest on
- Audio as whole is improving engagement with audio formats seeing daily listeners in both actual terms and a share of weekly listeners
- Podcasts increased share of weekly listeners most points) but still had the daily-to-weekly listener share with in
- Radio had second highest daily-to-weekly share but the least (up just one
- Streaming radio-like and use case are gaining – of music streamers listen streaming stations and radio, while in the car
- Radio listeners getting older – of monthly are over compared to an of just across podcasts, streaming audiobooks
- Digital formats not that young either, with now-aging millennial base of 20-34-year-olds for a quarter of digital audiences, while are just of compared to of TikTok users
- National broadcasters the UK and Canada both weekly listener declines for key with commercial stations Heart and gaining
- Radio is favour again with artists and with many artists citing the importance of radio in audience-building – radio’s song scarcity is rare asset set against streaming’s catalogue
Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon Music, Amp, BBC, Capital, CBC, Clubhouse, Facebook, Global Radio, Green Room, Instagram, Kiss, NPR, Pandora, Radio Radio SiriusXM, Sounds, Spotify, Spotify Live, TikTok