Spoken Word Gradually Captures Greater Share of Audio Listening Time

December 9, 2022

Almost half (46%) of the US population ages 13 and older listens to spoken word audio on a daily basis, whether that be News, Sports, Talk/Personalities, and/or Audiobooks, according to a recent study [download page] from NPR and Edison Research. Along with an increasing number of people listening to spoken word, it’s also taking up a greater share of the population’s audio listening time.

This year that stands at 29%, up a point from last year, and from 20% in 2014. The increase has been particularly sizable among younger age groups. Those ages 13-34 now spend 26% share of their audio time listening to spoken word, more than double the share (12%) from 2014. Breaking that group down, the biggest increase is for those ages 13-24, who now spend 22% of their audio time with spoken word, more than triple the share (7%) from 2014.

There have also been increases among the 35-54 (30%, up from 22%) and 55+ (32%, up from 26%) brackets; while the growth hasn’t been as rapid, these older adults tend to allocate a greater share of their listening time to spoken word than do their younger counterparts.

Spoken word audio listening tends to take place on digital devices, with just 39% share on average occurring on an AM/FM radio receiver. Mobile’s growth has stalled over the past couple of years, but the 34% of listening that occurs on mobile devices still represents a large shift from 2014 (9%). Not surprisingly, this is led by youth: those ages 13-24 do 62% of their spoken word audio listening on a mobile device.

As for platforms, the migration away from AM/FM radio continues. This year less than half (47%) of spoken word audio listening is for AM/FM radio, while 21% share is for podcasts, 11% for audiobooks, and the remaining 21% of other platforms, including streaming audio, satellite radio, and audiobooks.

As with mobile devices, podcasts’ share of spoken word audio time has stalled over the past couple of years, but is still far greater than it was years ago, as more people tune in.

Once again, platform distribution differs significantly by age. The 13-24 bracket spends the plurality of its spoken word audio time listening to podcasts (39% share), while allocating just 17% of this time to AM/FM radio. By contrast, the 35+ group spends the majority (58%) of its time with spoken word audio listening to AM/FM radio, against just 16% listening to podcasts.

When it comes to types of spoken word content, News/Information (40%) narrowly leads Personalities/Talk (37%) in listening share, though for the youngest group (13-24-year-olds), Personalities/Talk is easily the leader. This year more time is spent listening to Personalities/Talk on podcasts (41% share) than AM/FM radio (39% share), marking a significant shift.

For more, download the study here.

About the Data: The results are based on Edison Research’s Share of Ear® study, which was conducted from Q3 2021 – Q2 2022 among 4,118 respondents ages 13 and older.

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