Daily audio consumption in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to 3 hours and 45 minutes of daily listening across both ad supported and ad free platforms like radio, podcasts, streaming music services and satellite radio. That’s the conclusion found in a just-released quarterly report card from Nielsen with research compiled in partnership with Edison Research.
The Record examined time spent with ad supported audio, and in the first quarter of 2025 , ad supported audio represented 64% of total listening. This is similar to TV, Nielsen notes, where 72% of total viewing was spent on ad supported platforms, in Q1.
Within the ad supported audio universe in the first quarter of 2025, consumers spent 66% of their daily listening time with radio, 19% with podcasts, 12% with streaming audio services and 3% with satellite radio. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, radio’s share of ad supported audio time was 1% lower this quarter, while podcasting’s share was 1% higher. This consistent demand for daily audio—and ad supported audio—varies proportionally based on age.
Radio accounts for anywhere from 47% of daily ad supported audio time among people 18-34 to 73% among 35+. Meanwhile, podcasts are the inverse, representing 15% of daily audio time for people 35 and older compared with 32% among those 18-34.
Among the other key takeaways:
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Within the ad supported audio universe in the first quarter of 2025, consumers spent 66% of their daily listening time with radio, 19% with podcasts, 12% with streaming audio services and 3% with satellite radio.
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Among 18-34 year-olds, radio accounted for 47% of daily ad-supported audio time, where podcasts accounted for 32%.
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Adults 35+ spent 73% of daily ad-supported audio time listening to radio and only 15% listening to podcasts.
source; Radio & Television Business Report, May 14, 2025
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