As audio listening on smart speakers and mobile phones increases, many more people now report having no radios in their home, according to the forthcoming Infinite Dial 2022 study from Edison Research.
In the 2020 Infinite Dial, conducted before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, just under one-in-three Americans age 12+ reported not having a single radio in their home. Two years later, that number has grown to 39%. Fourteen years ago, only 4% of respondents said they had no radios at home.
Still, the majority of respondents (61%) report having at least one radio in the home in the 2022 study. Among persons 35-54, 63% say they have at least one radio in the home, 79% for persons 55+. Younger people are less likely to have a traditional radio – 57% of respondents aged 12-34 say they have no radios at home.
The new findings were released Wednesday by Edison as a preview of the annual Infinite Dial study to be released on Wednesday March 23 at 2pm. The study will premiere at Podcast Movement Evolutions in person and also be available live via webcast.
“Of course, nearly all cars have AM/FM radios easily available, and people can listen to the content of radio stations on their phones or smart speakers,” says Edison Research President Larry Rosin. “However, the elimination of the standard, single-use radio from so many households makes the challenge that much harder in the location that most people spend the most hours.”
Fewer traditional AM/FM receivers in the home coincides with growing adoption of smart speakers, which many Americans use to listen to broadcast radio streams and other audio content. Edison says it will present new data on smart speaker adoption – including in no-radio households – in next week’s Infinite Dial 2022 presentation, sponsored by Wondery and Art19.
(This story was updated with correct statistics at 7:38 am)