Jacobs Media released Techsurvey 2025, the 21st annual edition of its universally observed survey of radio listeners. As always, the questions and answers illuminate how digital audio realities have influenced radio listening trends and audience behaviors.
Treading Water
That is the headline takeaway in the 2025 results. “Broadcast radio is treading water. It continues to age, and while some vital signs are stable, others show erosion.”
In this general appraisal, there is a generational aspect, unsurprisingly. While AM/FM listening remains stable, that number drops as the age goes down. Even so, the youthful drop in radio listening is hardly catastrophic; all age groups remain above 80% radio listeners for at least an hour per day. This is illustrated in the graphic below, along with a general decline (from 92% to 87%) across the entire surveyed population.
Why?
Not taking anything for granted, TechSurvey asked respondents why they listened to radio. The answers:
- Easy (specifically, in the car) (66%)
- Free (63%)
At the same time, a trendline stretching from 2018 to 2025 shows an eye-popping audience lean into “Connection.” Respondents were queried on this hypothesis: “I feel a connection with local radio stations that I don’t with other types of audio.” In 2018 that statement gained 49% agreement, and sentiment steadily built to 56% this year.
The study emphasis is Covid as a turning point for audience need for, and attachment to, local radio content. That value began rising in the 2021 TechSurvey, to 50%, and this year registered 54% agreement.
There’s a person in there
The #3 reason for choosing radio is “DJs/Hosts/Shows. Those three survey agreements registered above 60% each. Down at 56% is “favorite songs/artists” as a reason to choose radio. The persistent point? The appeal of personalities.
Also interesting to us, among the reason-to-listen answers, is this: “Fee a connection w/ radio.” That seems separate from articulating the many aspects of radio, to an affection and habit around radio as a lifestyle habit with an aura of personal meaning.
Indeed, Jacobs Media devotes a slide to this survey fact: “Personalities have outpaced music as a main reason for listening to radio since 2019.” It’s an interesting battle of trend lines illustrating this issue:
On the downside of this encouraging personality trend, personality turnover is a growing reason for listening less, the report finds.
What About Digital?
Digital vs. broadcast is a perennial topic in the TechSurvey. The question to respondents is how they listen to their P1 station: Broadcast or digital. In 2013, the consensus was 85% broadcast. That number sloped down. for ten years as the “Digital” response moved upward — see the graph below. The settled trend appears to be just under 60% listening via broadcast, and just under 40% digital.
Takeaways and Source
Jacobs Media provides these 10 keys to give an abbreviated understand of the survey’s high points:
- Broadcast radio is treading water. It continues to age, and while some vital signs are stable, others show
erosion. - 2. “Being local” is a perceived asset and not just a slogan. It has grown since the pandemic.
- 3. For the seventh consecutive year, personalities overshadow music as a main driver of broadcast radio listening.
- 4. Why are one in ten listening less? A combination of digital choice, COVID lag, and “unforced errors” with
programming content. - 5. The digital transformation rolls on, but it has slowed down and become more incremental.
- 6. It’s still about “meeting the audience where they are.” New paths include newsletters, smart TVs, and short
videos. - 7. The better equipped the vehicle with dashboard technology, the more radio listening in the car is being
challenged by digital and satellite content. - 8. Mobile is like media’s “connective tissue” – all roads lead to mobile.
- 9. Social media’s impact has grown due to its growing role as a news source and for driving influencer-inspired
purchases. - 10. Podcasting reaches an all-new high in weekly listenership, a sign it is fast becoming a mainstream medium.
- 11. BONUS: Is there a Gen X opportunity for Boomer-skewing form
The original survey release is available, and includes these additional topics:
- Radio ownership
- The famed TechSurvey Media Pyramid for 2025
- Smart TV usage
- Smart speakers and the disappearance of “regular radios”
- In-car systems, with emphasis on dashboard metadata
- Handheld Mobile apps and listening
- Social media (with its own usage pyramid)
- Podcasting
The source deck is freely available. Get it HERE.
