Podcasting’s share of the audio day held steady in the fourth quarter, as nearly one of every five minutes spent listening to ad-supported audio went to a podcast. That 18% share for Q4 is on par with share reported by Nielsen in its previous quarterly update for adults 18 and older. The data shows podcasting continues to have more than the combined time spent listening to ad-supported streaming audio (12%) and satellite radio (3%).
Nielsen’s quarterly report, The Record, which is based on Edison Research Share of Ear data, finds podcast listening is even a bigger factor among 18- to 34-year-olds. In that age group, it says nearly a third (32%) of daily listening time goes to podcasts. That is up a point from Q3. Young adults were also more inclined to listen to streaming audio than other groups, spending one in every five minutes with ad-supported audio with a streaming music service. But even for this digital native generation, over-the-air radio still accounts for the biggest slice of their listening day. Nearly half (47%) of their listening went to broadcast radio during Q4.
Nielsen says podcast consumption is also continuing to show strength among older age groups, outpacing all other ad-supported options other than AM/FM radio. The Edison data shows nearly a quarter (23%) of daily listening time among 25- to 54-year-olds is spent with podcasts. And among those 35 and older, podcasts have a 13% share of daily listening time. Both figures remained unchanged between Q3 and Q4.
Nielsen says audio accounts for nearly 20% of daily time. From October to December, that translated to 3 hours and 54 minutes of daily listening across both ad-supported and ad-free platforms like radio, podcasts, streaming music services and satellite radio.
“The end of the year is typically a busy time for media in the US, and 2024 was no exception for audio. The final three months of 2024 were jam packed with news, sports and entertainment topics galore,” it says in the quarterly update.
Beyond podcasting, the report finds AM/FM radio continues to hold the biggest share of ad-supported listening time, making up two-thirds (67%) of ad-supported listening time during Q3. The ad-supported versions of streaming audio services like Spotify had a 12% share, with SiriusXM radio’s ad-supported channels accounting for 3% of listening time during Q4.
“Those figures are nearly identical to the previous quarter, with only streaming audio increasing just 1%. This speaks to the consistent demand for daily audio in the American media diet,” Nielsen says.
Broadcast radio’s share of listener time was most dominant among older listeners, including the 25- to 54-year-old age group that ad buyers care most about. The Edison data shows that among this so-called money demo, AM/FM radio had a commanding 62% share — or nearly triple podcasting’s 23% share. And among listeners 35 and older, radio’s share was even more pronounced, with 74% of time spent with ad-supported audio.
Nielsen’s quarterly analysis of what American adults were listening to on the radio during Q4 shows increased audience levels for both news and sports formats as the election dominated headlines and as the Major League Baseball playoffs combined with the start of the National Football League season to lift sports-talk radio listening.
The other annual behavioral change Nielsen reports is the “significant increase” in listening to the Adult Contemporary format when many stations flip to the all-Christmas music format in the leadup to the holidays. The result is between Q3 and Q4 2024, the AC format saw a 9% gain in audience share among adults 18 and older. And the gain was an even bigger 17% increase among adults 18 to 34 as the AC rose from 8.4% in Q3 to 9.8% in Q4, demonstrating even younger listeners can’t resist the holiday cheer on AM/FM radio.
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