ESPN Audio asserts sports dominance in Share of Ear stats

ESPN is reinforcing its reputation as a leading audio sports brand by releasing results from the subscription-only Share of Ear survey by Edison Research. The media company’s talk shows, live events, local broadcast radio, and podcasts are responsible for almost half (46%) of all sports radio listenership in the United States in 2018. For sports digital audio listening, ESPN’s share creeps up to 53%. Survey respondents showed dedication to the network. Almost 50 million people, or one in five study participants, said they listen to ESPN Audio content weekly.

AM/FM radio remains the top format for ESPN listeners at 71%, but 46% said they tune in through a streaming audio source. A quarter said they listen to ESPN’s podcast roster.

“ESPN provides premium voices and premium sporting events across as many devices as possible so it’s exciting to see that sports fans spend half their time with us,” said John Fitzgerald, vice president of multimedia sales for ESPN Audio. “In a fragmented media world, share matters. We work diligently with our advertisers to use that to drive performance for their brands and will continue to look for ways to engage with sports fans and their consumers.”