Nielsen finds strong reach for radio, smart speakers for black and Latinx listeners

Nielsen released a report examining audio trends among black and Latinx consumers. These combined groups represent about a third of the U.S. radio audience ages 12 and up in 2019, with weekly radio reach hitting 32.7 million black Americans and 43.2 million Latinx this year. Radio reaches more of these audiences by weekly reach than any other form of media.

Radio also has the best weekly reach for black and Latinx listeners of all the surveyed audio forms. Streaming audio on smartphones has a weekly reach of 64% for blacks age 18+ and 61% for Latinx age 18+. Streaming audio on tablets had weekly reach of 22% for black listeners and 24% for Latinx listeners. Satellite radio secured a 15% weekly reach for blacks and just 9% for Latinx.

Nielsen also found that the survey participants owned smart speakers at higher rates than the national average (29%), with 33% among black households and 32% in Latinx households. Listening to streaming music was the top weekly smart speaker activity for both audiences. Black listeners also showed a leaning toward listening to news (70%) and podcasts/audiobooks (51%) compared with Latinx, who posted 54% and 40%, respectively, for those actions. Latinx audiences observed more extreme impacts from owning smart speakers compared with black listeners, with 68% saying they stream more music and 42% listening to more podcasts/audiobooks.

Anna Washenko