Time spent with digital audio surpassed that of radio for the first time in 2021.

US adults spend significantly more time listening to terrestrial radio than to any other ad-supported audio format.

And as in H1 2020, nearly 92% of respondents listened to digital audio, such as music or podcasts, and devoted 1:27 daily to music streaming. Broadcast radio is less widespread in China than in most other countries. In H1 2021, just 46.8% of internet users had tuned in to live radio programs in the prior month. Time spent with those shows had risen, though, from 1:08 to 1:13 per day, on average.

Music streaming surpassed broadcast radio in terms of time spent. In H1 2021, respondents devoted an average of 1:28 daily to streaming music, versus 1:03 with live radio. Podcasts were also popular, claiming 34 minutes per day. Desktops, laptops, and tablets accounted for almost an hour more of daily media time than mobile phones.

Broadcast radio, like live TV, maintained a sizable audience. Broadcast radio reached more of the online population in Poland than in most other nations surveyed, at 82.7%. The share of respondents accessing music, audiobooks, or other audio content on digital platforms was effectively static at 62.3% in H1 2021, and live radio occupied 40 minutes more than music streaming on a typical day.

Time spent with digital audio surpassed that of radio for the first time in 2021. The gap will widen going forward. At 1 hour, 33 minutes a day on average in 2022, time spent with digital audio will be 8 minutes more than time spent with radio. The switch is related to a reduction in commuting, which has had a direct impact on terrestrial radio consumption.

And time spent with broadcast radio—an average of 46 minutes daily—was about half the 1:24 devoted to music streaming alone. Social networks and messaging services are now universally popular, and claimed an estimated 3:10 daily in H1 2021—the longest period for any specific media activity.

Broadcast TV, radio, and social networking claimed larger slices of time than other specific media activities. The average time internet users spent daily with broadcast TV in H1 was nearly an hour longer than the 58 minutes devoted to online TV/video streaming.

Time spent daily with broadcast radio rose by 2 minutes year over year (YoY) to 1:12, but the average time spent with music streaming leapt from 1:23 to 1:40. Similarly, the reach of digital video has surpassed that of traditional TV. Live TV posted a minimal decrease in reach compared with H1 2020, to 86.9% of those surveyed.

Only half as many respondents—44.1%—had listened to live radio during the same period. Similarly, music streaming accounted for an average 1:07 per day, double the 33 minutes devoted to broadcast radio. More than 54% of Vietnam’s internet users had read a print newspaper in the month prior, and 52.4% had read a print magazine.

Penetration of broadcast radio may be dropping, as just 47.6% of the sample population had tuned in during the prior month. However, more than half of males were recent live radio listeners in Q1, as were respondents in the most affluent homes and those ages 35 to 44 and 55 to 64. In fact, uptake of digital audio has long surpassed broadcast radio.

The digital audio market is evolving, but radio hasn’t gone away. The reach of broadcast radio shrank in many markets this year, but time spent with radio had hardly changed since 2020 or shifted by just a few minutes per day. Fewer internet users listened to online radio, audiobooks, and other digital audio content, as well.

However, the average time spent streaming online TV and video was less than half the time devoted to broadcast TV, at 1:03 per day. Social networking and messaging were the only media activities to rival live TV and video streaming in overall reach.

On the entertainment side, music streaming also claimed more time this year than last, at 1:37 daily, on average. Consumption of podcasts, which GWI measured for the first time in H1 2020, accounted for 1:12 each day in H1 2021.

Broadcast radio reached a slightly larger audience than digital audio in H1 2021, at 73.2% of internet users, but claimed less time, at 1:07 daily, on average. Print media increasingly face competition from digital alternatives. In Q1 2021, 40.9% of US respondents had read a print newspaper in the prior month; among 16- to 24-year-olds, fewer than 29% had done so.

Online TV and video streaming accounted for an estimated 1:24 per day, an increase of 11 minutes since H1 2020. Seven in 10 internet users listened to broadcast radio in Q1 2021, spending an average 55 minutes each day. Digital audio usage was higher, at 74.6%, and claimed more time as well, at 1:34 daily.

More than 71% of internet users had tuned in to live radio in the previous month, with usage much higher in affluent households (83.1%), and among 55- to 64-year-olds (91.9%). The 1:00 spent with live radio per day was marginally lower than time devoted to digital audio, though. Print newspapers posted penetration of 57.3% in H1 2020—a sizable audience but not a growing one.

Some 58.1% of the sample had tuned in to live radio programming in the month prior to polling. In contrast, 81.6% had listened to music, podcasts, or other digital audio content—and for longer periods of time. Music streaming alone claimed an average of 2:04 per day in the first half of the year, more than double the 46 minutes spent with live radio.

Most other activities (including video streaming, print press, and digital press) took up less than 30 minutes, while gaming and broadcast radio consumed slightly more. Social networking, including messaging, was a notable exception, estimated at 50 minutes daily. Fewer than half the internet users polled in 2021 listened to live radio, or read either print newspapers or magazines.

The broadcast radio audience was a good deal smaller than that for live TV, at 69.2% of internet users. Live radio listening accounted for 1:09 per day, on average—a marginal increase from 2020. Digital audio and social networking both gained momentum this year. Digital audio services were firmly established in Sweden some years ago.

Radio continued to enjoy much greater reach: Some 69.0% of male survey respondents and 61.0% of females had recently listened to broadcast radio programs as of Q1 2021. Time spent with radio was no higher than in H1 2020, however, at 1:09 per day, on average. Digital video and audio both grew their audiences in 2021.