Radio: The Most-Used Medium by Millennial

When you think of Millennials you probably think of smartphones. But according to a new Nielsen study, it turns out that when it comes to Millennials’ media habits, you probably should also think radio.

The study, a side-by-side comparison of media usage habits, finds that radio actually has a wider reach among adults 18-34 than any other medium.

The report concludes that  among 18-34 year olds, between a combination of traditional and streaming, a whopping 91% use radio each week.

FM radio is still one of the most frequently used tools for finding new music, which makes total sense when you think about young people.

That’s even more than smartphones at 82% and TV, at 76%. The Nielsen study looked at other demographics as well and found that for all adults radio’s weekly reach trumped all other media (with the exception of a tie with TV for those 50+).

And of the 91% of radio-listening Millennials, over 50% of the group still regularly listens to traditional, or “terrestrial” radio.

So the question is… Why does terrestrial radio continue to resonate with young people at a time when they have so many options?

Nielsen says in part it’s because FM radio is still one of the most frequently used tools for finding new music, which makes total sense when you think about young people. A separate study, also by Nielsen, conducted in 2015, found that 59% of Millennials and younger said they use terrestrial radio to discover new music, ahead of streaming services such as Pandora or Spotify.

So while streaming services are definitely growing, making radio (as a whole) a behemoth when it comes to media consumption, services like Spotify, Pandora, Google Play, and the rest offer great ad opportunities for the on-demand music listener, while terrestrial radio is still the premier player in music discovery: Setting trends, establishing new artists, and breaking records (pun intended).