Digital audio has undoubtedly benefited from the UK lockdowns. Even with reduced commuting likely eating into their time spent with mobile audio, UK listeners still tuned in to digital audio elsewhere and will continue doing so.

Early in the pandemic, digital audio took a huge hit in user engagement and in the amount of time listeners were spending with the medium. Many observers, including us, predicted dire results in the short term. However, the rest of the year played out very differently than those early weeks, and we ultimately revised our 2020 estimate from a 1.0% decline in the time US adults spent with digital audio to 8.3% growth, for a total of 1 hour, 29 minutes (1:29) per day.

This report reviews our final 2020 numbers and new 2021 forecast for US time spent with media, highlighting pre- and post-pandemic estimates and expectations. Special attention is paid to TV, connected TV, OTT, digital audio, and social media.

Digital video’s share of time with long-form entertainment will continue to climb, though, as consumers’ choice of streaming content continues to expand. How does digital audio compare with radio in time spent? In 2021, digital audio will exceed radio in time spent for the first time. As with digital video, the number of digital audio services in Canada has risen rapidly.

The pandemic led to many upward revisions of our UK digital user forecasts. Some changes (podcast listeners) will be permanent, while others will be temporary (digital gamers). Our social network user numbers, meanwhile, didn’t change much at all.

On today's episode, we discuss how time spent watching TV is changing, how TV ads favorability stacks up against other formats, and what's contributing to TV ad spending's resilience. We then talk about Paramount+ introducing a new tier with ads, how much time people spend with subscription-based vs. ad-supported video, and how much money are people willing to spend for the video streaming entertainment. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Ross Benes.

The major social platforms hit the ground running in 2021, making substantial investments into many of today’s top social trends: audio, influencers, and short video, to name a few.

On today's episode, we discuss who owns everything in the media universe, the formation of Warner Bros. Discovery, and why Amazon bought MGM. We then talk about how people are consuming sports in different ways, CNN's new streaming service, and whether HBO Max with ads can make a big splash. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

The pandemic accelerated the increase in time spent with mobile activities in the US. Most of these gains will stick as people return to a more normal life in 2021.