Growing Listener Landscape: 244M Americans Tune in to the Radio Each Week

Growth is a popular word today in America, whether you’re talking about the stock market, entertainment choices or census trends. And through it all, the national radio audience continues its upward trend.

That’s the headline from Nielsen’s second-quarter Audio Today report, which reveals that 244.4 million Americans (age 12 or older) are listening to radio each week—a record high, eclipsing the 243.7 million listeners in March 2013.

This growth is notable, considering the variety of media choices available to consumers today over the air and online via smartphones, tablets, computers and digital dashboards. Radio’s hyper-local nature uniquely serves each market, which keeps it tied strongly to our daily lives no matter how (or where) we tune in.

But the story doesn’t end there, because radio’s growth chart is highly diversified. African-American and Hispanic listeners together account for nearly one-third of the national radio landscape: 71 million listeners. These multicultural audiences are highly engaged with radio all across the country, as they each spend more than 12 hours a week tuning to radio in markets large and small.

The 40.1 million Hispanic listeners and 31.3 million African-American listeners are both record highs as well.

For additional insights, download the latest Audio Today report.