Nielsen AudioToday Report charts smart speaker and streaming use

Nielsen has released an Audio Today Report, this one including some metrics around the use of, and interest in, smart speakers and streaming services. Outside of that focus, the report examines the reach of Black and Hispanic listeners to radio, both now and over five years.

On the digital side, these are the data of interest:

As you can see, there is Black/White/Hispanic breakout for these digital stats also. The total audience view shows 19% adoption of smart speakers — very close to the 18% revealed in The Infinite Dial 2018 from Edison Research and Triton Digital. A reported 43% of respondents claimed to use Audio Streaming Services. that category is defined differently from Edison’s “Online Audio.” Edison counts broadcast streams plus all kinds of pureplay streaming. Nielsen counts branded streaming services with all their possible audio types including podcasts. (The Infinite Dial also separates monthly reach from  weekly reach.)

We notice (above) that “Interest” in Audio Streaming Services reports with lower percentages than actual use, unlike the charts for smart speakers. In response to our query, Nielsen informed us that in both cases (Smart Speaker and Audio Streaming Services), the “Interest” question was given to people who did not own a smart speaker or use an audio streaming service.

Brad Hill