Nielsen: Radio Reaches 75 Million Black & Hispanic Consumers Weekly

The latest edition of Nielsen‘s Audio Today report has been released and focuses specifically on Black and Hispanic consumers, who make up a third of American radio listeners. According to Nielsen’s data, 75 million Black and Hispanic consumers tune in to the radio each week. In the first quarter of 2018, radio reached 92 percent of Black consumers each week and 96 percent of Hispanic consumers. In each of the past five years, more than 30 million Black consumers and 40 million Hispanic consumers have tuned in to the radio each week. Black and Hispanic consumers make up a third of American radio listeners, according to the June 2018 Audio Today report. Additionally, the national radio audience is approximately 14 percent Black and 17 percent Hispanic.

Black and Hispanic consumers are also trailblazers when it comes to interest in and adoption of smart speakers and audio streaming services. According to Nielsen’s new syndicated MediaTech Trender Report, 52 percent of Black consumers and 45 percent of Hispanic consumers use streaming services for music, radio and podcasts. Smart speakers are also popular, as 19 percent of Black consumers and 21 percent of Hispanic consumers have a smart speaker device in their household.

The report also looked at specific listening characteristics of Black and Hispanic radio audiences. In particular, more than 30 million Black consumers ages 12+ tune into radio each week. Out of Black listeners 12+, 47 percent are male and 53 percent are female, and the most popular time of day to listen is Monday-Friday between 3-7 pm. Urban Adult Contemporary (AC) is the top format among Black listeners, with nearly one-third of all radio usage going to stations in the Urban AC format.

The gender divide among the Hispanic listening audience is 53 percent male and 47 percent female. Mexican Regional is the #1 format overall and the most popular time of day for radio is middays (Monday-Friday 10am-3pm). Mexican Regional is the top format in terms of share of audience with almost every demographic, except among Hispanic teens (ages 12-17), where Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) and Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) lead the way, with Mexican Regional ranked third.