Edison Research: Audio Listening Habits Vary Across Political Party Lines.

With fewer than 100 days until the election, political ads are sure to ramp up. As campaigns decide where to place their ad buys, new Edison Research data suggests there is no single audio platform that efficiently reaches every voting bloc. Instead, listening habits vary by party affiliation, creating opportunities for campaigns to better target audio ad spending.

The latest Share of Ear data shows 81% of voting-age Americans use ad-supported audio daily, making the medium a broad way to reach voters. But the research finds some platforms are considerably more likely to reach certain political audiences than others.

Republicans are the strongest supporters of traditional radio. AM/FM radio posts an index of 117 among Republicans, meaning they are 17% more likely than the average U.S. adult to listen on a typical day. The biggest Republican skew comes from SiriusXM’s ad-supported spoken-word channels, which post an index of 157 — by far the highest score in the analysis.

Podcast listening, meanwhile, shows the broadest appeal across non-Republican audiences. Democrats index at 107 for podcasts, making it their strongest-performing audio platform, while Independents post an even higher 119 index, making podcasts the most efficient audio platform for reaching the influential swing-voter bloc.

Democrats also slightly over-index for streaming music (101) and music videos on YouTube (103), while Independents are modestly more likely than average to consume music videos on YouTube (105).

The Edison Research findings underscore that audio offers political advertisers multiple ways to reach voters, but platform choice matters. Campaigns seeking Republican voters may find broadcast radio and SiriusXM especially effective, while podcasting appears to provide the strongest opportunity to reach Democrats and, particularly, Independents.