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Half of Americans Now Listen to Online Radio

Over half of americans now listen to online radio and figures have doubled since 2011, that's 136 million unique listeners tuning in on a weekly basis.

James Mulvany

by James Mulvany in News

Last updated 29.07.2024

This is an image of a small portable radio over a magazine, seemingly the Daily Post.

The latest statistics from Edison Research show that a staggering half of Americans now listen to online radio on a weekly basis.

Listening figures have seen dramatic growth over recent years and have even doubled since 2011, that's a total of 136 million unique listeners every week in 2016 that have tuned into online radio.

Half of Americans Now Listen to Online Radio

This is a blue and red graph of the 2016 Weekly Online Radio Listening, and the figures are broken down below.

The impressive 50% figure was only just reached last year says Edison Research's Vice President of Strategy Tom Webster:

We’ve been tracking this behaviour since 2000, and it has truly been remarkable to see this march upward from 2% to half of all Americans. The trend here also correlates extremely well with the rise in smartphone ownership. With online radio accessible in the pockets of a majority of Americans, consumption of this medium has rapidly become a habit for millions.

Mobile Listening on The Rise

Radio has come along way over the years to integrate different devices to make it easier to tune into your favourite stations no matter where you are. The latest RAJAR research shows that in the UK alone 41% of listeners connect via a mobile device or tablet at least once per month.

This is a blue and purple graph of the RAJAR Q4 2015 Stats results. 26% of adults listening to online radio is the main stat here.

What does this say about listening behaviour for the future? It shows a clear shift moving away from traditional AM/FM radios listening habits in favour of desktop computers and mobile devices like smartphones and tablets - Younger audiences, mainly teens and young adults, are at the forefront, but figures are expected to grow and reach more demographics over the next decade.

If you run your own internet radio station but don't have a mobile app for listeners to connect on their devices then Radio.co offers iOS and Android apps - Build your own unique mobile applications and get heard by potentially millions of people worldwide.

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