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Millennials Continue To Dominate The Audio Market

A Recent Study Finds Radio Continues To Reach More People On A Daily And Weekly Basis Than Any Other Media

The audio landscape is exploding and over the last two years there has been huge growth across various audio categories including a 2500% growth in smart speaker ownership and more than 48% increase in podcast listening, according to the Edison Infinite Dial 2019 study. IPSOS also recently released a new research study, commissioned by iHeartMedia – “Day in the life Audio Journey” – demonstrating that consumer interest in audio is now at an all-time high, with listeners enjoying more audio content across a vast array of platforms including broadcast radio, digital streaming, podcasts and smart speakers.

The study explores daily audio usage and habits of Americans ranging from 13 to 64 years old and captures when, where and how these various generations are consuming their favourite audio.

The study highlights that radio continues to reach more people than any other media both daily and weekly. On a weekly basis, broadcast radio reaches 85% of consumers, surpassing all other audio channels including social media (68%) and live television (56 percent). The research also showed that radio has two times the daily listening of streaming services, reaching 69% of consumers compared to streaming music’s 34 percent.

Although all ages enjoy listening to audio and spend an average of 17.2 hours a week with their favourite broadcast radio stations, streaming music service, podcasts and more, the study found that Millennials and Gen Z listen the most, spending more than 18 hours each week and 2.6 hours or more each day listening to audio. These numbers, along with social media’s continued popularity, reflect consumers’ need for live, human connections.

The study also explores where and when people listen and shows that audio listening is most often done on-the-go, with 65% done outside the home and most often in the car, with radio accounting for 65% of in-vehicle audio listening. Radio also serves as a companion throughout the day; it leads media use 70% of waking hours and is the most used audio platform all day, and at all hours. The research additionally shows that the rise of smart speakers has made radio more prominent than ever in the home, uncovering that homes with smart speakers have spent 47 percent more time listening to radio during prime hours (8-10pm) than those listeners without.

Consumers are also embracing podcasts, with listening growing tremendously especially among younger Millennials and Gen Z. Compared to just two years ago, podcast listening is up 48% with people aged 12–24, according to a separate Edison Infinite Dial 2019 study. iHeartMedia’s study further found that podcasts now represent almost 10% of audio listening among Millennials and that podcast listeners are also radio listeners, with 82% also listening to radio on a weekly basis. In addition, radio continues to be the #1 audio choice for Gen Z. and podcasts are replacing online video as a daytime escape for many during work and school.

The study, conducted by IPSOS for iHeartMedia in March 2019, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 6,016 consumers aged 13–64 who listen to 1+ audio platform at least once a week.

Article first published on AllAccess. Read original here