“Even as many people spent much more time at home during these last two years, many more people now report having no radios in their home.”
While that conclusion from the Edison Research research report “The Infinite Dial 2022” may be worrisome for AM and FM radio station owners, has the rise of the smart speaker all but eliminated the need for hardware — thus negating a “problem” Edison highlights in the study?
In the 2020 Infinite Dial, Edison reports that just under one-in-three Americans age 12 and older (25%) reported not having a single radio in their home. Two years later, that number is now 39%.
Fourteen years ago, only 4% of respondents said they had no radios at home.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the numbers are particularly acute among younger people. Fully 57% of respondents age 12 to 34 reported having no radios at home.
The findings are a preview of the March 23 release of The Infinite Dial at Podcast Movement Evolutions and through a live webcast.
“Of course, nearly all cars have AM/FM radios easily available, and people can listen to the content of radio stations on their phones or smart speakers,” says Edison Research President Larry Rosin. “However the elimination of the standard, single-use radio from so many households makes the challenge that much harder in the location that most people spend the most hours.”
Many radio companies believe the smart speaker brings the radio “back into the home.”
New data will be revealed on smart speaker adoption – including in no-radio households, in The Infinite Dial 2022 presentation.
