Podcasts have officially edged past AM/FM talk radio in the U.S., marking a watershed moment for spoken-word audio. Edison Research’s Share of Ear study finds podcasts now account for 40% of spoken-word listening time, compared with 39% for terrestrial talk formats. It’s a symbolic handoff years in the making, reflecting podcasting’s on-demand convenience, booming creator economy, and the medium’s spread across every major screen and speaker.
The crossover is notable not just because it finally happened, but because traditional radio held its ground far longer than many expected. Even as smartphones and streaming rewired habits, AM/FM’s live news, sports, and established personalities preserved a formidable share. That durability makes podcasting’s incremental, decade-long climb to the top all the more telling.
What the latest Share of Ear study shows about podcasts
Edison’s latest Share of Ear data tracks how Americans allocate time across audio types. For spoken-word content (excluding music), podcasts reached 40% of total listening, ahead of AM/FM talk radio at 39%. The firm also estimates 115 million people in the U.S. now listen to podcasts weekly, underscoring the medium’s broad mainstream reach.
Video matters here, too. Edison confirms its podcast figures include shows with a video component. Among weekly listeners ages 13+, 85% consume podcasts that have some form of video, up 7% year over year. Yet only 5% say they watch podcasts but don’t listen, a reminder that even with cameras in the studio, audio remains the anchor experience.
Separate findings reinforce this dual-track behavior. Triton Digital’s U.S. Podcast Report for 2025 reported that 80% of adults who consume podcasts use both audio and video, 13% stick to audio only, and 7% watch only. Genre matters: sports, comedy, music, and news tend to over-index on video, while science, history, fiction, art, and true crime skew more audio-first.
Why podcasts pulled ahead of traditional talk radio
On-demand flexibility is the clearest driver. Podcasts fit into fragmented routines—commutes, workouts, chores—in a way that appointment-based radio struggles to match. Discovery has also improved: recommendation engines on platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts surface new voices and niche topics that broadcast schedules can’t accommodate.
Distribution, meanwhile, has exploded. Smart speakers brought hands-free listening to kitchens and bedrooms; Apple CarPlay and Android Auto normalized streaming in dashboards once dominated by radio; and social video turned podcast clips into a growth funnel for full episodes. Creator investment from major networks and studios helped, too, professionalizing production and expanding reach without dulling the medium’s intimacy.
Video podcasts surge without cannibalizing audio
Rather than siphon listeners from audio, video has acted like a powerful billboard. YouTube reported viewers watched 700 million hours of podcasts each month on living room devices in 2025, up from 400 million the prior year—a striking leap that signals podcasts are claiming time once reserved for traditional TV.
Streaming platforms are leaning in. Netflix has been striking podcast deals with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports, treating talk formats as a modern, bingeable take on daytime shows. The result: bigger screens are introducing new audiences, while headphones keep the core habit intact.
Advertising and broadcast implications for audio
For advertisers, attention is shifting to dynamic ad insertion, programmatic buying, and creator-led endorsements that convert. Brands chasing incremental reach can now plan across audio and video feeds for the same show, matching creative to context—short host-reads for earbuds, richer spots for TV screens.
Radio isn’t going away; a 39% share is evidence of a resilient medium. Live news, traffic, weather, and local talk remain strengths, as do marquee personalities with daily cadence. Expect more simulcasting, podcast spin-offs of popular shows, and renewed focus on live moments that on-demand can’t easily replicate.
Large audio groups are already straddling both worlds. Companies such as iHeartMedia, SiriusXM, and Spotify package talent across broadcast, streaming, and video, selling integrated campaigns tied to personalities rather than platforms. Measurement will be the next battleground, as the industry pushes for clearer, cross-format standards.
What to watch next as podcasts lead spoken-word
Three trends bear watching:
- More studios building video-first sets for cross-platform distribution
- Deeper integrations with car operating systems that make podcasts as easy as presets
- Broader use of paid subscriptions and channel bundles to stabilize creator revenue beyond ads
The headline change is simple but profound: podcasts are now the primary way Americans consume spoken-word audio. Radio’s long hold on that crown kept the race competitive. With the lead finally swapped, the next phase will be defined by who best blends intimacy, convenience, and cross-screen scale—without losing what made listeners press play in the first place.
