Radio Dominates Ad-Supported Audio For Black Listeners; Urban Formats Command Half Of All Listening.

Black audiences’ enthusiasm for radio remains unmatched, according to Nielsen’s latest Audio Today 2025 report. Ninety-two percent of Black Americans use radio monthly, making it the top reach medium across all platforms. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of daily ad-supported audio listening among Black consumers goes to radio, 14% higher than the general market average.

Urban formats lead the way: urban contemporary and urban AC together account for 50.2% of all radio listening by Black adults, with Nielsen noting that half of all listening among this audience goes to one of these two formats. In 75 markets, at least one urban AC or urban contemporary station ranks in the top five among adults 25-54.

Nielsen’s modernization of PPM measurement in January, introducing the three-minute qualifier, helped lift impressions and gross rating points. Among Black listeners, average quarter-hour audiences rose 15% in the first half of 2025, with weekend listening and key dayparts seeing double-digit growth.

In the car, radio is the dominant ad-supported audio source, capturing 86% of listening. Nielsen notes that Black consumers do 65% of their listening away from home, most of it in vehicles, providing advertisers with prime opportunities to connect near the point of purchase.

The top three formats vary slightly by age and gender, but consistently feature urban AC and urban contemporary at the top. For Black adults 18-34, urban contemporary leads with 28.9% share; among women 25-54, urban AC edges ahead with 29% share.

Nielsen says the findings reaffirm radio’s cultural and commercial influence with Black consumers. Black listeners are twice as likely as other groups to try products promoted on local radio. Shifting just 20% of an existing media mix to Black-targeted or Black-owned stations can deliver in one week the reach previously achieved in a month.