A few weeks ago, we highlighted the fact that among 13–34-year-olds, the majority of their ad-supported audio time in the car is spent with AM/FM Radio. This week, we widen the picture to look at all listening time among this age group in the car to see what they are listening on.
Over the history of Share of Ear® we have documented the relentless rise of the smartphone as the primary audio-consumption device. Among younger audio consumers, this holds true even in the car. As the nearby graph shows, the mobile device recently surpassed the AM/FM Radio receiver for leadership in the car. What once was a 47-point gap in favor of time spent listening on the radio receiver is now a three-point gap in the opposite direction.
Americans between the ages of 13 and 34 spend 46% of their daily in-car audio time listening on a mobile device, and 43% of their time listening on a radio receiver. Of course, some of that mobile device listening is to the streams of radio stations – again this is looking at device, not the platform of the content. Share of Ear subscribers can see just what these young people are listening to, in the car or elsewhere.
Webinar Unveils Audio & Video Podcast Research
Attend today’s webinar from Edison Research at SSRS, SiriusXM Media, and PMX to see new audience data about how audio and video podcasts can both experience growth.
The webinar will be hosted by Melissa Paris (Vice President, Sales Research, SiriusXM Media), Megan Lazovick (Vice President, Edison Research at SSRS), and Ted A’Zary (SVP, Insights & Strategy at PMX).
Participants will learn:
- Why consumers move between audio and video
- The growing demand for format flexibility
- How creators can avoid building experiences that alienate either audience
- Why the future may be neither audio-first nor video-first
The webinar runs live Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 2pm ET with a recording available to all registrants.
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Edison Weekly Insights include the latest research trends and stats from our public-facing studies, updates from our syndicated data sets, and more.
