Since 2014, Spoken Word Audio Listening Up 109% Among Listeners Under 35.

A note to those who remember changing radio stations whenever the music stopped for news, sports or other talk: times have certainly changed.

According to Edison Research’s “Share of Ear,” listeners 13-34 spend more than twice as much time listening to spoken word audio — including news, personalities, talk, and sports, whether from radio, streaming, podcasts, or audiobooks — in 2024 vs. a decade ago.

While Edison’s data shows that this segment spent just 11% of total daily audio time with spoken word content in 2014, that figure has ballooned to 23% in 2024, a 109% increase from 10 years ago.

Although time spent with spoken word audio is also up since 2014 among persons 35-54 and 55+, the growth is nowhere as large, with 27% and 8% lifts, respectively. Ten years ago, time spent listening to spoken word by 35-54s was twice that of 13-34s, whereas now the younger demo is just five percentage points behind both 35-54 and 55+.

“What has been the change agent? Podcasts,” Edison’s report says. “Young people have embraced this medium that uses spoken word instead of music to speak to their demographic.”