Nielsen: Radio Dominates Ad-Supported Audio in Q2 of 2025
Nielsen release The Record, its report on second quarter 2025 audio listening trends and among the takeaways from this report are: 1) Daily audio consumption amounted to 3 hours and 50 minutes of daily listening across both ad supported and ad free platforms like radio, podcasts, streaming music services and
satellite radio; 2) In the second quarter of 2025, ad supported audio accounted for 64% of all listening, while in the TV landscape, 74% of viewing was done on ad supported platforms; 3) Zeroing in on the ad supported audio universe, consumers spent 64% of their daily time in the second quarter with radio, 19% with podcasts, 14% with streaming audio services and 3% with satellite radio. The study also tracks listening by format and news/talk (AM/FM and streaming) not surprisingly dominated the 35+ demo with more than a 12 share. But the format also did well with 25-54s, notching a 6.5 share (which topped all other formats except adult contemporary). See the Nielsen study results here.
top of these trends when developing cross-channel media strategies. That’s why we created The Record – a quarterly look at how U.S. audiences spend their time with audio. An important tool 
for advertisers, artists, broadcasters, and podcasters alike, The Record offers a unique view of time spent with ad-supported content. The total use of audio is significant – Americans spend more than four hours with audio every day – and it’s important to view it from multiple lenses. Consumers give nearly 70% of their daily ad-supported audio time to radio, 20% to podcasts and the rest to streaming audio (music services) or satellite radio (select channels). Data from the first quarter of 2024 indicates that (for over-the-air and streaming combined), by format news/talk was tops with the 35+ demographic with a 12.3 share of total audience and was also first in persons 18+ with a 10.8 share of total audience.