In research to be released later this week, US radio consultancy company Jacobs Media Strategies will reveal that radio receiver set usage is declining, but it is being offset by smart speaker and app usage.

The American study is part of Jacobs Media’s long running TechSurvey research, which samples 30,000 listeners from 430 US radio stations.

Illustrating the changing hardware being used for radio listening, a 7-year trend chart illustrates the decline in working radio set ownership in homes, from 88% in 2017 to 78% in 2023. However, it also shows how the rise of both smart speakers and favorite station mobile apps has offset the decreasing number of radio sets in households, leading to more means of listening to radio in households than previously.

This latest study confirms a point that has long been made here on radioinfo: radio set ownership is declining, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that listening to live linear broadcast radio is declining, it is instead moving to other more modern digital audio platforms. Of course it’s more complex than just a one for one substitution, because new means of listening also open up more choices for audiences, but it is a more realistic way of understanding the trends taking place in the modern digital audio landscape than just saying ‘people don’t listento/buy radio sets any more.’

Fred Jacobs says “Covid clearly showed us how AM/FM radios have become less present in people’s homes.  Now fewer than eight in ten have a working radio they use at home.  The good news for broadcasters is that smart speaker ownership and downloading one’s P1 station mobile app are sharply on the rise – new ways to reach the audience where they are.” 

The full research will be released at the All Access Audio Summit this week, when Jacobs presents this 2023 TechSurvey results.