Edison: AM/FM Listening Highest in Rural America
Edison Research data indicates that while among all Americans 13+, 38% of time is spent listening to audio on a mobile device, and 30% of time is spent listening to audio on an AM/FM radio receiver, when it comes to rural Americans, AM/FM is just as important. Edison says that
the popularity of mobile devices for audio listening is the most dominant in urban communities. Within that audience segment, 40% of time is spent listening to audio on a mobile device, vs. 28% of time spent listening on an AM/FM radio receiver. The mobile device also holds a strong lead in suburban communities, with 36% of time spent listening on that device compared to 30% of time on a radio receiver. However, the radio receiver is strongest in rural communities where it matches the listening time of the mobile device, each receiving 34%.
those living in suburban or urban areas. Rural listeners spend 43% of their daily audio listening time with AM/FM radio and radio streams, compared with urban listeners who spend 34% of their time with AM/FM radio and radio streams. Meanwhile, Urban listeners spend over twice as much of their daily audio time with podcasts as rural listeners. Urban listeners spend 13% of their daily audio time with podcasts compared with rural listeners who spend 6% of their daily time with podcasts.” Interestingly, if you combine the AM/FM listening and podcast listening numbers for Urban, Suburban and Rural listeners, these numbers are essentially the same – between 47% and 49%. Edison notes, “It appears that the ‘time budget’ for radio and podcasting combined is consistent across locations; it is just the apportionment of that time that varies.”