• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, April 25, 2016

According to Edison Research newly-released survey results, 9 in 10 commuters listen to traditional AM/FM radio while in their car on the way to work, with AM/FM radio easily beating out CDs (62%), own digital music files (54%) and streaming internet radio (42%) as the most common form of in-car audio during commute time.

According to the Edison Share of Ear study, commuters spend an average of 87 minutes each day listening to audio in their cars. 43% of the total sample would choose traditional AM/FM radio given only one choice, but respondents who have ever listened to streaming internet radio during their commute would stream (28%) over traditional AM/FM radio (25%).

Among those who listen to an AM/FM station that plays commercials, 29% don’t typically switch away, but 23% say they tune away immediately. Overall, 71% switch at some point during commercials: 23% tune away immediately; 25% say they listen to part of one commercial; and 23% listen to at least one commercial. Note that research released several years ago found radio delivering 93% of its lead-in audience during commercial breaks, says the report.

Interestingly, among the Edison Research respondents who listen to Pandora during their commute, 61% say they don’t switch away at a commercial break, while only 12% tune away immediately.

Commuters Response to AM/FM Radio Commercials (American adults commuting to work for more than 20 minutes or alone)

Considering Internet radio, covering audio ads delivered on mobile devices, the average number of ad units per hour hovered between about 5 and 5.4 during this year, with the vast majority of these units (79-84%) being thirty seconds in length.

According to the report, the analysis only covers audio ads delivered on mobile devices and “does not attempt to quantify the number of banner ads served during a listening session” as the vast majority of listening takes place “while the device screen is blank or not viewable.”

• The average hour of internet radio included 2 minutes and 29 seconds of audio ads in Q4, up to 6% from Q3 but down from the year-earlier average of 2 minutes and 44 seconds
• Among the 5 publishers examined, the top 3 by ad time averaging roughly 3 minutes per hour in Q4 and the bottom 2 average 1 minute and 39 seconds
• The average time to first ad decreased again in the 4th quarter, falling to 13 minutes and 13 seconds, a 36-second drop from Q3
• The top advertiser in Q4 was The Home Depot, with more than 7% of all ads identified. It was followed by GEICO (4.73%), Progressive (2.66%), Discover (2.51%) and Macy’s (also 2.51%)

For additional information from Edison Research, please visit here; For more from Xappmedia, visit here.