Talk radio is the most popular US broadcast format

An overview of US broadcast radio listening by age group and format, 2017.

Data from The Nielsen Company show that talk radio was the most popular broadcast format among listeners aged 6+ in 2017, taking a 9.9% share of an average quarter hour of listening among those aged six and above. Ancillary data show that some 35% of US households listen to speech-based radio at least once a week.

Tastes vary by age group in the US. While news and talk radio is the most popular format overall, listening is low among younger age groups, namely children (4.0%), teens (3.6%) and millennials (4.4%). Conversely, younger listeners tend to favour music stations,...

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