Radio still Australia’s audio leader as podcasts and smart speakers grow

More Aussies listen to radio in cars than anywhere else

Radio is still the leading audio platform in Australia, with the results of the 2019 Infinite Dial Study released today.

It found that 83% of the population aged 12 and over listened to radio in the last week, slightly down on 85% when research was first conducted in 2017.

The Infinite Dial Study is conducted by Edison Research, and president Larry Rosin revealed the findings at Mumbrella’s Audioland conference today.

It is commissioned by CRA, Southern Cross Austereo and Triton Digital.

The study also found that awareness of podcasts was steadily growing, up from 78% to 83% year on year.

It also found that 15% of Aussies listened to podcasts in the last week, up from 13% in 2018 and 10% the year prior. More than half of these listened to a radio show podcast.

Meantime smart speaker ownership more than double from 5% to 13% of the population, but still behind the US where the number is 23%.

“The study shows that audio in Australia is the same kind of dynamic space we see in America,” said Larry Rosin.

“Australian radio retains a large audience while streaming and podcasting continue to grow and new devices create new opportunities.”

The radio industryt set up a cross-industry podcast committee to look at the understanding and growth of podcasting in Australia.

“Podcasting in Australia is still in the early stages of take-up, but we expect it will follow the trend in the US, where there has been a significant jump in weekly podcast listeners over the past year,” added Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner.

“Interestingly, the 15% of Australians who listen to podcasts weekly listened to an average of six in the last week.”

When it came to the source of listening, 85% of Australians listened to radio and 12% to podcasts in the car.

Other key facts are noted in the graphic below: