Nielsen and Edison Research published their quarterly review of US audio listening trends.
For the first quarter of 2026 (January – March), Nielsen and Edison state that consumers spent 82% of daily ad supported audio time with radio and podcasts, while 16% was spent with streaming music services. Among 18-34 year-olds, radio accounted for 45% of daily ad-supported audio time, where podcasts accounted for 30%. For 35+ the numbers jumped to 68% for radio and down to 16% for podcasts.
Formatically, the study said that News/Talk continued to maintain to most listening with 10.9% of 18+ listeners up from 10.8% in Q4 2025. AC dropped from 8.4% to 7.1%. Country was steady at a 5.8%.
Among 18-34’s, Classic Hits rose from 5.1 to 5.4%, CHR was at 6.8%, Hot AC gained from 4.9$% to 5.6%, and Alternative was up from 3.8% to 4.2%.
News/Talk also held the biggest discrepancy in demos as it only accounted for 4.1% of 18-34 year-olds listening, 6.2% of 25-54’s, and 12.1% of 35+ listeners. News/Talk and Sports were also responsible for the formats most being streamed by listeners with News/Talk accounting for 18.2% of radio stations streamed by 18+ and Sports following at 9.1%.
