AM/FM Radio Beyond The Receiver

Despite the growing popularity of digital audio platforms, Americans age 13+ continue to spend the biggest portion of their daily audio time with AM/FM radio. Over one-third (35%) of all the time spent in a day with audio is spent with AM/FM radio.

Radio has for years made its offerings available through streaming, allowing listeners to connect on phones, computers, connected TVs and smart speakers. Streamed radio offers some of the same convenience features as YouTube, streaming music, and podcasts. How much of the time spent with AM/FM radio is spent with streamed AM/FM sources and how does this change by listening location? Data from Edison’s Share of Ear® can be used to answer both questions.

Streamed AM/FM radio accounts for 12% of all time spent with radio sources in a day, as of Q1 2025. The rest of radio listening happens on a traditional receiver or “over the air”.

The number varies significantly when we look at time spent listening to radio in different locations. Countless previous Weekly Insights have illustrated that AM/FM radio is the king of the car, but it’s important to specify that in-car radio listening is dominated by over-the-air AM/FM, with radio streams representing only 1% of time spent in the car with radio. A higher portion of radio time is spent with streamed sources at work (16%) and at home (22%). Streamed AM/FM radio has its biggest share of total AM/FM listening in other places, such as the grocery store, the gym, or walking around. Just under one-third* of time spent with radio sources in these “other” places is spent with streamed AM/FM radio.

Despite the growing popularity of digital audio platforms, Americans age 13+ continue to spend the biggest portion of their daily audio time with AM/FM radio. Over one-third (35%) of all the time spent in a day with audio is spent with AM/FM radio.

Radio has for years made its offerings available through streaming, allowing listeners to connect on phones, computers, connected TVs and smart speakers. Streamed radio offers some of the same convenience features as YouTube, streaming music, and podcasts. How much of the time spent with AM/FM radio is spent with streamed AM/FM sources and how does this change by listening location? Data from Edison’s Share of Ear® can be used to answer both questions.

Streamed AM/FM radio accounts for 12% of all time spent with radio sources in a day, as of Q1 2025. The rest of radio listening happens on a traditional receiver or “over the air”.

The number varies significantly when we look at time spent listening to radio in different locations. Countless previous Weekly Insights have illustrated that AM/FM radio is the king of the car, but it’s important to specify that in-car radio listening is dominated by over-the-air AM/FM, with radio streams representing only 1% of time spent in the car with radio. A higher portion of radio time is spent with streamed sources at work (16%) and at home (22%). Streamed AM/FM radio has its biggest share of total AM/FM listening in other places, such as the grocery store, the gym, or walking around. Just under one-third* of time spent with radio sources in these “other” places is spent with streamed AM/FM radio.