AM/FM Radio Holds Listening Lead In The Car, Edison Data Shows.

Digital dashboards be damned. Even as more drivers can access streaming services, podcasts or satellite radio while behind the wheel, a majority of in-car listening still goes to AM/FM. While radio’s share of listening to ad-supported media is even higher, when looking at all audio sources — including those without any ads — Edison Research says over-the-air radio still holds the lead. Its latest Share of Ear report shows that among Americans age 13 and older, 55% of in-car audio time was spent listening to over-the-air radio during the first quarter.

The share for AM/FM includes not only traditional radio listening but any digital streams that drivers are accessing while in the car. That is noteworthy since the combined share of all the streaming music services — including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube music, among others — is just 16%. Another 29% of listening goes to things like podcasts, satellite radio, and owned music like CDs.

Edison data has consistently shown broadcast radio’s lead is largest with older drivers and somewhat smaller among younger listeners age 13 to 34. In that teen and young adult demographic, the in-car share of audio listening time that goes to AM/FM leads at 46%. But streaming music’s share is nearer in the proverbial rearview mirror. Edison says 30% of young listeners’ audio time goes to online music sources.

The data does offer some warning signs for radio. Edison says AM/FM’s share of listening time has been trending down in the car and in other listening locations as new services peel off some listening time. Yet for many advertisers, the key number for the time being is how many people are listening to the audio channels where their commercials can actually run. In that layer of the marketplace, AM/FM holds a more dominant share. Edison says more than 80% of all ad supported audio time in vehicles goes to AM/FM radio as of the Q4 2025 Edison Share of Ear study.

Over the last decade, the importance of the car has grown as new digital options have captured listening shares in other environments. Edison data shows the proportion of over-the-air AM/FM radio listening occurring in-car has surged by 25% since 2015. Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media and Westwood One, released an analysis based on Q4 Share of Ear data that showed 53% of over-the-air AM/FM radio listening occurred in the car at the end of 2025. That compared to 36% at-home and 10% at work. It also showed that across every demographic, the vehicle is by far the dominant over-the-air AM/FM radio listening location. And it’s most pronounced for women.

“There’s tons of men listening in the car, but the proportion of women is astonishingly high,” Bouvard said. “And if we look across all the makes and models that folks drive, we can see that AM/FM share of total audio occurring in the car is right around 50% give or take — so radio is the dominant medium in the car.”

The data also shows certain brands have more AM/FM listening. Bouvard said AM/FM radio is particularly strong among General Motors vehicles, accounting for 60.7% of all in-car audio time. It also leads among Ford (54.7%), Honda (54.1%), Hyundai Motor Group (50.1%), the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance (53.2%), and Stellantis (53.3%), though its share is lower among Porsche SE vehicles at 42.1%.