Online Radio and Podcast Audiences Continue to Broaden

Some 61% of Americans aged 12 and older this year report listening to online radio on a monthly basis, and 87% of those listeners (53% of respondents overall) listen on a weekly basis, per the latest edition of the annual Infinite Dial report [pdf]. Both monthly and weekly online radio listening have grown across age groups, with weekly reach up by a third among the 55+ group (32%, from 24%).

For more high-quality data on internet radio audiences by age, income and race/ethnicity, see MarketingCharts’ 3rd Annual Media Audience Demographics report.

Meanwhile, 40% of respondents to this year’s Infinite Dial study report having ever listened to a podcast, with 24% doing so a monthly basis (up from 21% last year) and 15% on a weekly basis (up from 13% last year). The report shows a sizable jump in monthly podcast listening among the 25-54 demographic (31% this year, up from 24% last year), and also demonstrates that men (27%) are more likely than women (21%) to have listened to a podcast in the last month.

In other results from the Infinite Dial report:

• Pandora remains the clear digital audio brand leader in terms of awareness (86% of respondents aged 12 and up), followed by iHeartRadio (71%) and Spotify (62%); a report from Nielsen confirms strong growth in on-demand streaming in the music business;
• Some 32% of survey respondents (39% of those aged 12-24) tuned in to Pandora during the month prior to the survey, compared to 18% for Spotify and 13% for iHeartRadio, with Spotify now reigning supreme for youths’ weekly listening;
• Roughly two-thirds (68%) of respondents have at some point used YouTube to watch music videos or listen to music, and 43% did so in the week prior to the survey, up from 63% and 41% last year, respectively;
• Among respondents aged 18 and up who had driven or ridden in a car in the month prior to the survey, AM/FM radio was the top medium for listening (82%, up from 81% last year), followed by a CD player (52%, down from 55%), owned digital music (45%, up from 38%), online radio (26%, up from 21%) and satellite radio (22%, up from 17%);
• Among respondents who say it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to keep-up-to-date with music, friends/family is viewed as the most important source, although YouTube is more important among 12-24-year-olds; and
• This year, the percentage of respondents who use Spotify to keep up-to-date about music has more than doubled (10%, up from 4% last year).

About the Data: The results are based on a national telephone survey conducted in January and February 2017 of 2,000 people aged 12 and older. Interviews were 51% land line and 49% cell phone, and the survey was offered in both English and Spanish.