Broadcast ratings for nearly all of NPR’s radio shows took a steep dive in major markets this spring, as the coronavirus pandemic kept many Americans from commuting to work and school.
The network’s shows lost roughly a quarter of their audience between the second quarter of 2019 and the same months in 2020.
People who listened to NPR shows on the radio at home before the pandemic by and large still do, but many of those who listened on their commute have not rejoined from home.
And that threatens to alter the terrain for NPR for years to come, said Lori Kaplan, the network’s senior director of audience insights.
