The Record is a quarterly report card on how U.S. consumers spend their listening day, fueled by Nielsen and Edison Research. While advertisers are constantly tracking changes in consumer behavior to improve the impact of their cross-channel marketing, The Record helps cut through with a unique representation of the time spent with ad supported audio.
So how have audio listening habits shifted in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter? Let’s dig into the data.

The Q4 audio overview

Daily audio consumption amounted to 3 hours and 54 minutes of daily listening across both ad supported and ad free platforms like radio, podcasts, streaming music services and satellite radio. In the fourth quarter of 2025, ad supported audio accounted for 63% of all listening.

Zeroing in on the ad supported audio universe, consumers spent 61% of their daily time in the fourth quarter with radio, 21% with podcasts, 15% with streaming music and 3% with satellite radio.

For advertisers planning for audio marketing campaigns, it is important to consider that 82% of all daily ad supported audio time goes to radio and podcasts, while only 15% goes to streaming music services.

A quarterly snapshot: Edison Research Share of Ear®

This chart shows how U.S. audiences spent their time with ad supported audio in Q4 2025.

Explore even more audio insights with the additional data tables.

Tracking radio listening by format

The following tables detail how the share of radio audience varies by format, age, demographic and platform for the top 15 largest-reaching AM/FM radio formats. These differentiate between the share of all radio listening and the share of streaming listening specifically, which are those listening to the digital streams of AM/FM radio stations. 

Explore even more audio insights with the additional data tables.

Explore even more audio insights with the additional data tables.

Get the latest audio insights

Explore the latest audio consumer insights from our January 2026 Audio Today Report, which details the power of radio among Hispanic consumers. Nielsen data shows that radio reaches more than 93% of all Hispanic audiences in the U.S. and creates unique emotional connections with listeners that influence them to act on ad exposures to a much higher degree than the general population.

The Record provides a quarterly analysis of audio listening behaviors across the total radio universe. The charts represent average daily usage and share of listening for U.S. audiences. 

For even more audio data and insights, explore our audio measurement solutions and connect with our team of experts.

Source

¹  Source: Edison Research, “Share of Ear®” Q4 2025

The post The Record: Q4 U.S. audio listening trends appeared first on Nielsen.

While viewing time is not ultimately a consideration for who will get the statue, we wanted to see who this year’s winners would be if the deciding factor was by how U.S. TV audiences voted with their time (and we’ve expanded the number of categories we’re covering this time around).

The ceremony is set to air on Sunday, September 14th at 8pm on CBS and Paramount+.

The winners by viewership

Outstanding Drama Series

Like many series, production on the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus was delayed due to the Writer’s Guild of America strike in 2023. So when it launched in February of this year, it had been more than two years since the last chapter. Released episodically, it built momentum over the course of the season and enjoyed seven consecutive weeks of viewership increases. Additionally, viewing patterns showed that a subset of viewers were going back to watch prior seasons. All told, The White Lotus totaled over 210 million viewing hours within the Emmy eligibility window, giving it our Best Drama title this year.

Though Apple TV+’s Severance didn’t finish in the top spot, the fact that it finished in second place at 157.5 million hours, among a very competitive set of programs, is worth highlighting. Apple TV+’s penetration among the U.S. TV audience is lower than its competitors, which makes the feat all the more impressive.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Hulu’s The Bear, last year’s Comedy winner in our Emmy analysis, was once again in the running this time around. However, it was ABC’s Abbott Elementary that finished in the top spot with 184.1 million hours. Heading into its fifth season, the series has performed consistently well for ABC, and also benefits from significant catch-up viewing on Hulu. This was an example of a key trend of success we are seeing emerge across the media landscape—multiplatform engagement—which gives the viewers the option of where they want to consume content.  

With Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building, and The Bear occupying the top three spots in this category, Disney was once again a force to be reckoned with.

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

True crime is a very popular genre among TV viewers (and podcast listeners), and we often see documentaries of that ilk break into the weekly top 10. While we can’t call Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story true crime in the strictest sense, the highly dramatized telling of a very real murder case seemed to offer something for a broad range of viewers. With just over 149 million hours of watch time, it is our winner in the Best Limited or Anthology Series this year.

Coming in second, and the only other title to break the 100 million hour mark, was HBO’s The Penguin, set in Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe. Its status as an acquired series (since it aired on HBO before becoming available on HBO Max) meant it hovered just outside our Top 10 for the majority of its run, but quietly accrued a substantial amount of watch time during and after.

Outstanding Television Movie

This is a new category for us this year, but fitting since we track movies in our streaming top 10 every week, and the nominees are all streaming exclusives. Netflix’s action thriller Rebel Ridge led the pack by a significant margin with 90.5 million viewing hours. The feature occupied the number one movie position in our top 10 for three consecutive weeks last September.

Again, an honorable mention is in order for Apple TV+’s The Gorge here, which also enjoyed three consecutive weeks on the movie chart and finished third among nominees despite the aforementioned disparity in distribution.

Outstanding Reality Competition Series

While this is a new category for us to cover, the nominees remained largely unchanged from 2024, with RuPaul’s Drag Race, Amazing Race, The Traitors, and Top Chef all returning. The one difference was CBS’s Survivor being nominated this year in place of NBC’s The Voice last year. Survivor, a pioneer in what became a very popular primetime genre, recently completed its 48th season, and is the longest running of any of the nominees. That was certainly a contributing factor to its victory in our viewer tally, as fans can enjoy recently telecast episodes on Paramount+ and prior seasons on Paramount+, Hulu, and The Roku Channel, among other places. Survivor notched the most viewing hours by a substantial margin.

Given Love Island USA’s popularity this summer, it will be interesting to see if the dating competition gets an Emmy nod next year.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

This is the second year in a row that Gary Oldman was nominated for the role of Jackson Lamb in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, and after a second place finish in 2024, Sir Gary reached the top spot in our viewing total this year. With a long and storied career, it’s not uncommon to find a movie starring Mr. Oldman on television. But, outside of Slow Horses itself, it was his turns in the Harry Potter and the Christoper Nolan Batman film franchises that helped propel him to victory.

Lead Actress in a Drama Series 

Like the Lead Actor in a Drama Category, our winner in the Lead Actress category is another television and film veteran with a long history of industry accolades. Kathy Bates takes the crown by a wide margin here, largely fueled by CBS’s Matlock—another multiplatform success—for which she is nominated. And although many films contributed to Ms. Bates’ overall total, two in particular stand out, the first being Netflix original A Family Affair, which was released during the summer of 2024. The other goes back nearly 30 years, and is a staple of both linear TV and streaming: romantic drama Titanic.

Looking across the acting categories, it’s a very close contest between Kathy Bates and Gary Oldman as the most-viewed actor overall, with Oldman just a hair ahead.

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmy in Hulu’s The Bear, won both our viewing title and the actual Emmy for Lead Comedy Actor last year, and has managed to repeat the feat this year, at least for the viewing portion. However, where he was ahead in watch time by a wide margin in 2024, it was a much tighter race this time around. Jason Segel from Apple TV+’s Shrinking came in a very close second.

Outside of The Bear, Jeremy Allen White was again helped by his role in the Showtime dramedy Shameless, while Jason Segel had the benefit of How I Met Your Mother, both long-running shows that viewers enjoy rewatching.

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rounding out our awards this year is the Lead Actress in a Comedy category, which features three returning competitors in Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, and Jean Smart. However, it was Kristen Bell—nominated for Netflix’s Nobody Wants This—that took the crown this time around. Much like the Lead Actor category, this was a tight competition, with Uzo Aduba of Netflix’s The Residence following very closely behind Bell.

NBC’s The Good Place, which isalso available on Netflix, was the biggest contributor to Kristen Bell’s total outside of Nobody Wants This. For Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black played a role.

Conclusion

The nominees for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards demonstrate the power of both new and long-running programming to attract viewers’ time and attention. By understanding how audiences are voting with their time, brands and platforms can ensure they’re reaching audiences where they are and create meaningful partnerships with the talent they are investing their time in.

Measurement Methodology

For nominated programs and movies: 
Total viewing hours across broadcast, cable, and streaming were tallied for the Emmy eligibility period of June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025.

For nominated actors:
Total viewing hours across broadcast, cable, and streaming were tallied for any title featuring the nominee during the eligibility period, with some guidelines:

• They must be a named character
• Must be in the top-billed cast 
• Voice work, cameos, shorts, and brief recurring roles are excluded
• All information above sourced from Gracenote

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3 key insights to optimise your media planning

Unlock ROI in South Korea’s evolving advertising landscape

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Note: This report is available in Korean only.

3 Key Insights to Optimise Your Media Planning

Unlock ROI in South Korea’s Evolving Advertising Landscape

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For brands and marketers, this daily reality presents a significant challenge—where is the audience, really? Audiences aren’t just consuming content in one familiar place anymore; their attention is splintered across countless platforms. For example, you might still tune into your favorite show when it airs on TV, you could also be streaming it on demand later, catching up on clips on social media, or discussing it in a dedicated online community. Accurately navigating this complex landscape demands a fundamental understanding of what media fragmentation is to create strategies that grab audiences’ attention no matter where they’re watching.

What is media fragmentation?

Media fragmentation refers to the proliferation of media channels and platforms. This has led to audiences being increasingly divided and dispersed across a vast array of niche outlets rather than concentrated in a few dominant ones. A decade or so ago, a few dominant outlets like major TV networks or newspapers reached massive audiences. Today, the explosion of digital platforms, streaming services, social media, and niche content creators has expanded the total pool of media options audiences are tuning into, creating a seemingly limitless array of choices.

A clear indicator of this shift can be seen in how vast the array of options consumers engage with. Consider Thailand, for example—while a substantial 87% of the population still tunes into traditional TV, this now exists alongside a massive digital ecosystem where 91% are online and 89% are actively engaging with social media. For audio, the options have clearly multiplied, with music streaming services now attracting 56% of listeners, while traditional radio accounts for a smaller 12%.¹  Hence, marketers face the challenge of navigating a highly fragmented media environment where reaching and engaging target audiences across a multitude of channels requires increasingly sophisticated strategies and data-driven insights.

Making this even more challenging are some digital platforms and RMNs that can function as walled gardens. These platforms control their own content and user data, meaning much user engagement is locked within their sealed environments. It limits how marketers can access comprehensive data, understand cross-platform customer journeys, and unify their marketing efforts.

Given the explosion of content sources, it’s easy to assume that the splitting of media automatically means the audience is doing the same. This often leads to a common misconception—confusing the fragmentation of media platforms with the actual dispersion of consumer attention.

Is it different from audience fragmentation?

Yes, it is, and understanding the distinction is important to effectively strategize how to reach and engage today’s diverse audiences. While media fragmentation refers to the supply-side proliferation of channels—the sheer, ever-increasing number of media outlets, platforms and content options available—audience fragmentation describes the demand-side behavior of audiences actively scattering their attention across these many options.

The widespread availability of options has led to scattered attention, a reality that is seen in markets around the world. Recent data from Nielsen’s The Gauge report published in May 2025 shows that traditional broadcast and cable programming collectively accounts for 44.2% of time spent with the television set in the U.S. That share is now nearly matched by streaming services, which capture 44.8% of viewing time. Such a shift in media consumption highlights how audience attention is no longer concentrated in a handful of predictable spaces—it now flows across a wide array of platforms, reflecting increasingly fragmented viewing habits.

Strategies for navigating fragmented media and audiences

With so much media and audience fragmentation, you really need to change how you connect with audiences. The old days of “one-size-fits-all” campaigns, designed for a time when everyone watched the same few TV shows, just don’t work anymore. That broad approach is much less effective now that audiences are spread across countless apps, websites, and platforms. What’s needed is a much more precise and relevant approach.

To reach audiences within a fragmented media environment, you need to prioritize these key strategies:

• Understand your audience deeply: Reliance on a handful of go-to channels is no longer a sufficient strategy. Marketers now need to really dig into what makes their audience tick, like their interests, behaviors, and how they actually use different platforms. Such granular insights enable the creation of audience segments based on genuine engagement patterns and demonstrated preferences, moving beyond superficial categories.

• Integrate multi-channel approach: Brands can elevate their potential by strategically integrating a multi-channel approach. Marketers need to activate diverse touchpoints—like niche online communities, new streaming services, podcasts, and traditional media to ensure they’re present precisely where audiences are engaging.

• Personalize content at scale: The ability to use data and technology to deliver customized content to individuals has shifted from a competitive advantage to a fundamental requirement. Going beyond basic demographic targeting, leveraging past interactions, stated preferences, and real-time actions delivers messages that are inherently more relevant and less intrusive, thereby enhancing the user experience and boosting campaign efficacy.
• Optimize content for platform native experiences: Delivering messages that intrinsically align with each platform’s unique format and the user’s mindset within that environment is important for impact. A concise, visually compelling video ad might thrive on fast-paced social feeds due to its immediate nature, while more in-depth, informational content finds its audience on specialized blogs or within targeted email newsletters where longer engagement is expected. Authenticity to the platform drives receptivity and better results, leading to more effective marketing decisions.

Ensuring strategy effectiveness with cross-platform insights

Audience attention is scattered across countless touchpoints, so measuring engagement and campaign effectiveness holistically becomes extremely important. Relying solely on numbers from individual platforms creates a siloed, incomplete picture of the audience’s journey, making it impossible to truly understand your ROI or improve future strategies. 

Nielsen ONE provides a deduplicated and unified view of how audiences engage across all media channels—digital, traditional linear TV, and new platforms. It empowers marketers to understand how different touchpoints contribute to plan, optimize, and evaluate their campaigns with unmatched clarity, taking out the guesswork and allowing for smarter decisions. 

Notes:

¹  Nielsen Consumer Media View 2024, Base All people age 12+

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Marketers who adopt a holistic view beyond the perceived dominance of younger, digitally native audiences during segmentation can unlock significant reach and engagement with audiences whose distinct media habits and considerable spending capacity are often defined by their age. Hence, effectively capturing interest and driving conversions across varied touchpoints, as well as truly connecting with your audiences, demands tailored strategies with age-intelligent media planning.

Single digital audience is a myth

The term ‘digital native’ often conjures an image of a young person constantly connected via a smartphone, but this isn’t the full picture. Older demographics are also significantly and increasingly engaged online. While younger generations are undeniably heavy digital users, dismissing older demographics as digitally inept is an inaccurate generalization. Platforms like WhatsApp show near-ubiquitous daily usage across all adult age groups in Germany. 71% of Germans aged 55-69 use WhatsApp daily, demonstrating a strong engagement with the online communication tool within this demographic.

These trends suggest that the idea of a singular, young ‘digital audience’ is an oversimplification; digital engagement is prevalent and growing across all adult age groups, even if device preferences differ. For example, the declining weekly PC/laptop usage among 18- to 34-year-olds in Germany doesn’t signal a move away from the digital world, but rather a shift in how this key demographic engages—a pattern that contrasts with, yet exists alongside, the increasing digital adoption of other age groups on different platforms.¹

Age remains a key factor in how we tune in

Even as digital technologies become more accessible and familiar to people of all ages, fundamental differences persist in the methods and platforms generations favor for media consumption. The way we choose to ‘tune in’ is still heavily influenced by our age group. For instance, in the U.S., viewers aged 2-34 spend over 60% of their TV time on streaming services whereas for viewers aged 65-99, a significant 74.7% of their television consumption remains rooted in traditional linear TV.²

Divergence in media engagement based on age is not confined to how we watch video content; it is evident in other forms of media as well. For example, when we look at how different age groups in Germany use social media, we see clear differences in their platform choices and usage intensity. Younger adults, aged 18 to 34, exhibit a strong daily affinity for visually-oriented platforms like Instagram, with 59% engaging daily, and short-form video platforms like TikTok, with 38% daily usage. Among older adults aged 55-69, daily Facebook usage is at 36%. YouTube’s daily usage also varies, with 48% of the youngest adults using it compared to 18% of the oldest. When it comes to audio, 74% of Germans aged 18 to 34 show a strong preference for music streaming services, while older generations aged 55 to 69 still find comfort and connection in traditional radio broadcasts, with 64% weekly usage in this age group.³

Older audiences continues to evolve

The idea that older audiences are lagging behind in adopting new media habits is also outdated. In fact, older demographics are evolving at a pace that rivals, and in some areas, surpasses younger generations. While younger consumers have been at the forefront of digital adoption, older groups are quickly catching up—driven by factors such as a desire for flexibility, on-demand content, and premium media experiences.

In Thailand, mature audiences aged 55 and above are just as likely as Gen Z and Gen Y to watch TV in their free time—62% versus 47%—but they tend to favor different formats. They show a much higher inclination towards traditional TV at 61% compared to Gen Z and Gen Y at 39%, and also favor AVOD at 57% versus 43% for the younger generations. Older adults also show a slightly higher preference for OTT boxes at 53% compared to 47% for Gen Z and Gen Y.⁴ In Germany, weekly use of video streaming among adults aged 55–69 rose from 49% in 2023 to 57% in 2024, within just one year.⁵ The evolution in viewing habits reflects broader shifts in how older audiences engage with premium content, a space once dominated by younger consumers. These trends underscores the growing importance for marketers to recognize that older demographics aren’t static—they’re quickly adapting and redefining their media behaviors.

Age isn’t the only lens

Demographic data like age provides a starting point, but it’s not the only factor to consider when seeking a deeper understanding of today’s audience and effective targeting. Marketers need to explore the richer dimensions of identity and connection that offer a more nuanced view of media behavior. Hence, it’s important to also think about these factors:

• Geography: Where individuals live significantly impacts their media access, preferences for local content, and exposure to regional trends. Marketers should consider geographic relevance in their messaging and channel selection to connect effectively with audiences in specific locations.

• Socioeconomic factors: An individual’s education level and income significantly influence their purchasing power, access to different types of media (e.g., premium subscriptions, devices), and overall lifestyle, which in turn affects their media consumption habits and responsiveness to marketing.

• Community and shared values: People often form strong connections with others who share their hobbies, beliefs, or principles, leading to communities that include individuals of all ages. When marketing aligns with these shared interests and values, it can foster deep engagement and strong loyalty within these communities, regardless of age demographics.
• Emotional drivers: Beyond demographics, fundamental human emotions like belonging and aspiration along with psychological needs for information, entertainment, or connection, powerfully influence the media we choose and how we react to marketing. Content that effectively taps into this resonates with people across all age groups, creating lasting impact on their media choices.

The media landscape today demands a nuanced understanding of audience behavior, and age remains a fundamental factor in shaping those behaviors. Discounting age in favor of a singular focus on younger, digitally native audiences is shortsighted and also risks alienating significant consumer segments with substantial purchasing power and distinct media preferences. Embracing an age-inclusive marketing strategy—one that strategically leverages both traditional and digital channels to reach diverse demographics with tailored messaging is essential for marketers to drive more meaningful connections with their audiences. To gain the comprehensive insights and actionable strategies needed to implement such an age-inclusive approach in your media plans, download our Global Planning Guide 2025.

Notes

¹ Source: Nielsen Survey: Media usage in Germany, Spring 2024

² Source: Nielsen National TV Ratings, Persons 2+, October 2024

³ Source: Nielsen Survey: Media usage in Germany, Spring 2024

⁴ Source: Nielsen Cross-platform ratings Nationwide 4+, Jan-Jun 2024 [Reach]⁵ Source: Nielsen Survey: Media usage in Germany, Spring 2024

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The Record is our quarterly report card on how U.S. consumers spend their listening day, fueled by data from Nielsen and Edison Research. While advertisers are constantly tracking changes in consumer behavior to improve the impact of their cross-channel marketing, The Record helps cut through with a unique representation of the time spent with ad supported audio.

Delineating between total listening (or viewing) and the ad supported universe is vital in today’s burgeoning media landscape where consumer choice grows by the day and marketers are looking at every available opportunity to cut through. In the first quarter of 2025 (Jan-Mar), ad supported audio represented 63% of total listening. This is similar to TV, where 72% of total viewing was spent on ad supported platforms, in Q1 according to Nielsen’s recently launched Ad Supported Gauge report.

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.

A quarterly snapshot: Edison Research Share of Ear®

This chart shows how Americans spent their time with ad supported audio in Q1 2025.

Explore even more audio insights with the additional data tables here.

The following tables detail how the share of radio audience varies by format, age, demographic and platform for the top 15 largest-reaching AM/FM radio formats. These differentiate between the share of all radio listening and the share of streaming listening specifically, which refer to the digital streaming of AM/FM radio stations. 

Tracking radio listening by format

This chart compares which radio formats have the highest share of listening and how that differs between total radio (over-the-air and streaming combined) and the radio streaming universe.

Explore even more audio insights with the additional data tables here.

Explore even more audio insights with the additional data tables here.

With broad reach and ample ad space, it’s not surprising that audio remains a critical part of the media mix for companies with varying budget sizes. As we continue to see quarter over quarter, audio formats can have powerful reach with audiences of different demographics. Radio, in particular, has a strong hold with Black listeners. For more insights into how Black consumers are connecting to audio, download our latest Black Diverse Intelligence Series report: Engaging Black Audiences: How brands impact, grow and win with inclusion.

The Record provides a quarterly analysis of audio listening behaviors across the total radio universe. The charts represent average daily usage and share of listening for U.S. audiences. 

For even more audio data and insights, explore our audio measurement solutions and connect with our team of experts.

Source:

¹Edison Research, “Share of Ear®” Q1 2025

The post The Record: Q1 U.S. audio listening trends appeared first on Nielsen.

The value of connecting with Black radio listeners

Advertisers who are able to connect with Black radio listeners are engaging with an economically influential demographic that controls significant purchasing power. Black network radio listeners represent a wide range of segments including highly educated and ambitious consumers. Many have attended college, with 60% of adults 18-49 and 71% of women 25-54 having completed at least some higher education. Over half of Black adult listeners aged 25-54 live in households making $50,000+ annually, with 35% reaching the $75,000+ bracket. These listeners overwhelmingly tune in while on the go. Across all age groups, a consistent 70-71% of listening happens outside the home.²

The high out-of-home listening rate means advertisers can connect with Black consumers during their daily activities, potentially closer to point-of-purchase moments. Understanding the profiles of Black audiences allows advertisers to develop more sophisticated, relevant ad content, reaching listeners across various settings—during commutes, at work, or while running errands. The combination of education and buying power suggests an audience likely to be influencers within their communities, offering a wider impact for advertising efforts. In fact, a recent Nielsen analysis found 55% of Black Millennials consider themselves the leader in trends for their friend or peer group.³

The power of radio in the Black community 

Radio continues to command an impressive audience, reaching 27.4 million Black adults weekly—an average reach that matches that of connected TV.⁴ This not only underscores radio’s enduring relevance but also underlines its cultural significance within Black communities. The medium’s widespread engagement contributes to effective advertising, as Black listeners show a higher likelihood to respond to radio advertisements. For example, Black consumers are twice as likely as the other demographic groups to try products promoted on local radio stations, emphasizing radio’s unique ability to influence purchasing decisions.⁵ 

Radio’s influential role in Black communities has gained attention from marketers and media buyers. Advertisers have ramped up their investments in Black-owned radio stations, recognizing the medium’s power to forge authentic connections with Black audiences.⁶ A recent study with a radio network using Nielsen Media Impact found that moving just 20% of existing media mix to their stations delivered the same level of reach in one week that the previous plan delivered in one month.

Urban radio listening trends among Black audiences

A closer look at radio trends shows urban radio is an impactful medium for reaching Black audiences, with its popularity reflected in impressive listener statistics. Every week, nearly 14 million Black adults (aged 18 and older) tune in to urban radio stations. In fact, Urban radio formats account for nearly 50% of all radio listening by Black adults.

The impact of urban radio varies across different age groups and genders. Among Black listeners aged 18 to 49, urban radio captures 52% of their total radio listening time. Interestingly, there’s a notable gender difference within this age group. Women aged 18-49 spend approximately 54% of their radio listening time on urban formats, while men in the same age range dedicate about 50%, indicating a stronger preference for urban radio among female listeners.⁷

Among the total radio listening universe, Urban AC (Adult Contemporary) and Urban Contemporary collectively account for 8.3% of all radio listening, including both over-the-air and streaming platforms. Urban AC claims 5.5% of the share, nearly double that of Urban Contemporary at 2.8%. Black listeners appear to particularly favor Adult Contemporary within urban radio, possibly due to its mix of current hits and familiar classics. Urban radio formats overall have seen increasing popularity, with reach growing by 2% year-over-year.

Dive deeper: Unlock valuable insights on Black audience engagement

Want to know more? There’s a whole lot more to learn about Black audiences. A more comprehensive analysis is available for you to develop a deeper understanding of this influential demographic. To access these expanded insights and leverage them for your campaigns, download the 2025 Diverse Intelligence Series report “Engaging Black audiences: How brands impact, grow and win with inclusion.”

Notes: 

¹  Nielsen Audience Measurement Comparable Metrics Q2 2024

² Nielsen Audio National Regional Database (NRD), Spring 2024, Mon-Sun 5am-12mid, Black Differential Survey Treatment (DST) Metros

³ Nielsen Black Diaspora Study powered by Toluna, 2023

⁴ Nielsen Audience Measurement Comparable Metrics Q2 2024

⁵  Nielsen Attitude on Ads Study, 2024

⁶  Nielsen Ad Intel, Spot Radio Spend for 34 Black-owned AM & FM stations in PPM Markets, Q1-Q2 2023 and Q1-Q2 2024

⁷ Nielsen National Regional Database, Spring 2024

⁸ The Record, Q3 2024

The post Radio: Gateway to Black audience engagement appeared first on Nielsen.