In 2022, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau and Nielsen, 82% of Americans ages 12 and older listened to terrestrial radio in a given week. And according to Edison Research’s “The Infinite Dial” report, in 2023 42% of Americans 12+ have listened to a podcast in the past month. “Audio” – whether terrestrial or satellite radio, or streaming music, or podcasts – remains a substantial portion of the media mix for Americans, yet it often is overshadowed by research on TV and streaming video. And with the proliferation of Bluetooth-enabled TV sets and TV devices, or viewing on mobile devices with that capability, listening to TV audio is increasingly through headphones and earbuds, impacting TV viewing habits long taken for granted by the industry.
In this new report, Hub explores how people interact with audio (the devices they use to listen), their listening content (what services they are using for audio), and how people listen to TV with alternative audio devices. We also will explore how audio content like podcasts can be used to increase sampling and engagement with programs on traditional TV and streaming services, or as source material for video programming.
And as always, this report from the Entertainment & Technology Tracker will include quarterly tracking questions on a multitude of home media technologies.
Source: Interviews with 2,501 U.S. consumers 16-74