Its in-car share of 86% reinforces AM/FM’s standing as the primary way to reach consumers on their path to purchase, Cumulus Media/Westwood One Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard writes in a blog post, noting that the proportion of AM/FM radio in-car listening has surged, returning to pre-pandemic norms.

Those are among Bouvard’s key takeaways from the latest Share of Ear study, which surveys 4,000 each year to gauge daily reach and time spent with all forms of audio.

In terms of ad-supported audio, Edison’s Q4 2024 data also reveals that ad-supported digital audio reaches less than a third of the U.S., with AM/FM reaching two-thirds of the nation. When those are combined, ad-supported digital audio and AM/FM reach nearly three-quarters (74%) of the U.S. daily.

The research also shows that AM/FM radio also has a big advantage when it’s pitted against ad-supported versions of Spotify and Pandora. In total AM/FM radio and podcasts make up almost 90% of tuning minutes on the U.S. ad-supported audio clock.

“A media plan of music streaming and podcasts will miss two-thirds of Americans,” Bouvard writes. “The net reach of ad-supported Spotify, Pandora, and podcasts combined reaches less than one-third of the U.S. (29%). Versus, digital audio, AM/FM radio reach is double (61%)… The addition of AM/FM radio to digital audio causes reach to soar to 74% of the U.S. … An audio media plan can achieve true scale with the inclusion of AM/FM radio.”

The aforementioned numbers, Bouvard says, demonstrate that an audio investment that doesn’t include AM/FM radio misses a large portion of the audience. In a typical day among ad-supported media, 18% listen only to digital audio and not AM/FM radio; 22% listen to digital audio and AM/FM radio; and 61% only listen to AM/FM radio and not digital audio.

Edison also examined the daily reach of AM/FM radio and ad-supported Spotify and found that in a typical day 5% listen just to ad-supported Spotify and not AM/FM radio; 5% listen to both ad-supported Spotify and AM/FM radio; and 90% only listen to AM/FM radio and don’t listen to ad-supported Spotify.

“A buy that just has Spotify in the plan misses 95% of Americans,” Bouvard says. “Interestingly, an AM/FM radio buy reaches two-thirds of Spotify’s audience.”

It was a similar story when ad-supported Pandora was matched up against AM/FM radio in a typical day with 4% listening only to ad-supported Pandora and not AM/FM radio; 5% listening to both ad-supported Pandora and AM/FM radio; and 91% only listening to AM/FM radio and not listening to ad-supported Pandora. Again, a buy with only Pandora misses the overwhelming majority of Americans (96%), while an AM/FM buy reaches more than half (56%) of Pandora’s ad-supported audience.

Breaking down an hour’s worth of U.S. ad-supported audio consumption (determined by multiplying “Share of Ear” ad-supported audience shares by 60 minutes), AM/FM radio represents 41.2 minutes of listening. AM/FM is followed by podcasts (11.1 minutes); ad-supported Spotify (3 minutes); ad-supported SiriusXM (2.8 minutes); and ad-supported Pandora (1.9 minutes). In a typical hour, 87% of U.S. ad-supported audio consists of podcasts and AM/FM radio.

In terms of in-car ad-supported audio, the research shows that AM/FM radio represents the vast majority of tuning minutes. Here’s the breakdown: AM/FM radio (51.7 minutes of listening); podcasts (3.8 minutes of listening); ad-supported SiriusXM (2.1 minutes); ad-supported Spotify (1.2 minutes); and ad-supported Pandora (1.3 minutes).

Overall, AM/FM radio has a dominant 69% share of ad-supported audio. Podcasts are second (19%), followed by ad-supported Pandora (5%), ad-supported Spotify (5%), and ad-supported Sirius XM (3%).