Nielsen: Podcasts Capture 20% Of Ad-Supported Audio Listening In Q1.

One of every five minutes U.S. adults listened to during the first quarter was to a podcast, according to Nielsen, which reports the high-water mark for on-demand media first achieved last year has continued into 2026.

Nielsen’s The Record, a quarterly report card on how U.S. consumers spend their listening day that’s produced in a partnership with Edison Research, shows among adults 18 and older, it is broadcast radio that has the biggest share. AM/FM accounts for 62% of daily listening time. Podcasts rank second, with a 20% share in Q1.  That was down a point from Q4 when podcasts held a 21% share. 

“When zeroing in on the ad supported audio universe, AM/FM radio — spanning both over-the-air and digital streaming — and podcasts remain the most impactful outlets for advertisers looking to secure audio real estate,” says Nielsen, which points out only 16% of ad-supported listening time is spent with streaming music services. And an even smaller 2% of time went to ad-supported satellite radio channels.

Podcasting continues to have its largest share among 18- to 34-year-olds. Nielsen says nearly a third (30%) of their listening time to ad-supported audio each day is to podcasts. While AM/FM radio still leads at 45%, the gap is much smaller than across other age groups.

Among adults 25 to 54 — most sought after by advertisers — Nielsen says one of every four minutes spent with ad-supported audio goes to podcasts, although the lead held by AM/FM radio remains in this segment with more than twice as much time (58%) going to listening to over-the-air radio than podcasts. That is also roughly on par with Q4 data.

Pulling down the overall podcast numbers is the data for adults 35 and older, where 16% of ad-supported listening time goes to podcasts. Broadcast radio ranks first at 68%. That is unchanged from last year. Even so, Nielsen data shows that even among older listeners podcasts are second only to broadcast radio.

“The sustained growth of podcasting paired with radio’s stable foundational reach reinforces a clear truth for media planners — if you are not building audio campaigns around a combined radio and podcast strategy, you are missing the vast majority of the daily ad supported audio audience,” Nielsen says in the report.

Streaming audio services are most similar to podcasts, having their largest share numbers with younger listeners. Nielsen says 18- to 34-year-olds spent nearly twice as much time listening to that option than people 35 and older — 24% vs. 13%. It also reports that satellite radio listening trends are most like AM/FM, with its best share numbers among older Americans. But the numbers are small across the board, with only 3% of older adults spending time each day listening to ad-supported satellite radio channels.

Overall, Nielsen reports U.S. consumers spend nearly four hours daily with audio. Across most key demographic groups, it says broadcast radio’s share of daily time spent has seen an overall lift from quarter to quarter, highlighting what it calls “the resilient power” of radio in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

While Nielsen doesn’t offer any details about podcast genres, it does say radio news formats benefitted in Q1 from heightened interest in current events while music formats held onto their audiences following the holiday season. News/Talk remained the top format, edging up to a 10.9% share of total listening, while All-News also posted gains as listeners turned to radio for coverage of major domestic and international developments. That spoken word habit bodes well for podcasters.