• by Spencer Brown , June 16, 2015

Remember when radio was our only audio source for news, sports and, of course, music discovery? Eighty million or more American boomers listened to radio. Our favorite DJs. The latest hits. The big ball game. And then it became portable! The transistor radio changed our lives. For the first time, we could listen to the radio at the beach or in the park. Well, things have certainly changed. In the last 10 years, audio consumption has fragmented. 

But if you think this means radio has become less important in the media landscape, think again. Radio, perhaps the original mass medium, continues to play a big part in the lives of Americans everywhere—with 243 million Americans listening weekly. That means more than 91% of Americans (age 12 or older) are tuning in each week, according to Nielsen.

According to Pew Research, while the vast majority of Americans still report listening to AM/FM radio weekly, as many as 40% now listen to audio on digital devices, and that is projected to double by 2015.  

No longer tied solely to their radios, digital-only listening is where the momentum is. More people are listening to online audio services than ever before.  In 2011, one-third of all Americans (34%), or 89 million people, said they listened to either streaming of AM/FM stations, Internet-only services, such as Pandora, or both in the previous month.
So what does this mean for new audio engagement opportunities – podcasts, interstitials or other programming? For advertisers keen to reach the boomer audience, those who continue to listen to radio longer than anyone else, radio delivers a mass audience in real-time across markets large and small. Like everything else delivered via the Internet, new audio programming allows for more personalization.

Online platforms like Spotify, Pandora and now Apple have broadened the appeal and influence of audio. Partnering with existing media brands, or talk personalities, adds to the cachet. According to Pew, three out of four people say they like or love satellite audio, the same number of people who said that they like or love Pandora. Portable devices such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad inspire the greatest affection. Even in the car, where traditional radio has consistently dominated, online audio may stand the chance of competing with broadcast.

Not unlike the proliferation of multiple screens as a canvas for video, audio is now available on multiple audio platforms, some established and some new. And audio (which encompasses more than radio as we know it) continues to appeal to the boomer crowd, ages 50-64. According to Nielsen, 57.9 million use radio each week, that’s 93.5% of boomers! And while Generation Y (ages 35-49) is a close second, boomers spend an average of 15 hours, 6 minutes each week with radio (that’s the most of any demo). 

Older listeners make up the biggest cohort of news/talk/information’s audience of more than 58 million people. And audio programs focused on “talk” or “spoken word” capitalize on this affinity. 

Let’s not forget that boomers account for nearly $230 billion in sales for consumer packaged good; they control nearly 70 percent of the nation’s disposal income and they stand to inherit $15 trillion in the next 20 years. 

As they get older, this is a population that will have more time, not less, to listen to the radio, online and over the air.