by Luke Bouma
Cord Cutters News
Over the past decade, traditional terrestrial AM and FM radio has undergone a steady erosion in both audience share and physical infrastructure, as streaming services, podcasts, and on-demand digital platforms have reshaped how Americans consume audio.
Industry tracking shows the shift is neither sudden nor complete, yet the long-term trajectory points to a medium that is gradually ceding ground in daily listening time, core listener behavior, and station counts.
Edison Research’s Share of Ear studies, which measure time spent across all audio sources, indicate that AM/FM radio’s portion of total daily audio time has settled in the low-to-mid 30 percent range in recent periods, including figures around 33 to 34 percent in 2025 data covering adults 18 and older.
This marks a substantial retreat from earlier eras when over-the-air radio held a clear majority of audio consumption. Digital alternatives now collectively account for the larger share of listening, with streaming music, YouTube, podcasts, and satellite options filling the gap.
Even so, radio retains a dominant position within the narrower category of ad-supported audio, where it continues to capture roughly 63 to 64 percent of time spent, far outpacing individual streaming platforms. In-car listening remains a relative stronghold, with AM/FM accounting for more than half of total in-vehicle audio time and well over 80 percent of ad-supported listening in vehicles among adults, though connected dashboards and smartphone integration continue to introduce alternatives.
The decline is especially evident among radio’s most loyal listeners. Jacobs Media’s long-running Techsurvey, which draws responses from highly engaged fans of commercial stations, documents a clear migration away from traditional receivers. In the mid-2010s, roughly three-quarters of these core listeners reported consuming their favorite stations primarily via terrestrial AM/FM. By the mid-2020s that figure had fallen by about 18 percentage points.
More recent survey results show the gap between broadcast and digital consumption of the same stations narrowing further, with traditional over-the-air methods accounting for just over half of listening time among these dedicated fans and digital platforms approaching parity.
The audience itself is aging, with average respondents well into their late 50s and a rising share over age 65, while younger cohorts already split their time more evenly or favor digital options.
Even among those who still tune into AM/FM content, a portion of the experience has moved off traditional hardware. Streamed versions of broadcast stations now represent roughly 12 to 14 percent of all time spent with radio sources in recent measurements, leaving traditional over-the-air receivers with approximately 86 to 88 percent of radio listening.
The migration is more pronounced outside the car, particularly at home and in other locations where smartphones, smart speakers, and computers make digital access convenient.
These audience trends have translated into measurable pressure on station infrastructure. Federal Communications Commission licensing data show that the number of licensed AM stations declined by about 7 percent over a ten-year span ending in late 2025, dropping to roughly 4,340 stations, with further modest losses continuing into 2026. Commercial FM stations experienced a smaller but steady contraction of about 2 percent over the same decade, falling to just under 6,600.
Stations have gone dark, surrendered licenses, or been consolidated under larger ownership groups facing reduced advertising revenue and higher operating costs. In contrast, noncommercial educational FM stations expanded significantly during the same period, driven in part by application windows and growth in religious and community broadcasting, while low-power FM outlets also saw gains.
The cumulative effect is a local radio landscape that remains widely available yet faces structural challenges. Communities that once relied on nearby stations for hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and emergency alerts now encounter fewer full-power commercial outlets in some markets, even as digital alternatives offer greater choice and personalization.
Advertising dollars have followed listeners toward platforms that allow more precise targeting, further squeezing the economics of traditional broadcasting. While radio continues to reach large daily audiences—particularly in vehicles—and retains advantages in free access and local relevance, the decade-long pattern of declining share among core listeners, gradual station losses, and the shift toward digital consumption indicates an industry in the midst of a slow, ongoing contraction rather than a sudden collapse.
