Click here to view a 9-minute video of the key findings.

Click here to download your copy of the Cumulus Media 2022 Audioscape.

While AM/FM radio dominates the audio landscape with mass reach and significant time spent, podcasts and smart speakers are fast growing platforms representing engaging environments for brands.

The recently released Cumulus Media 2022 Audioscape examines the podcast consumer and smart speaker trends using data from Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” Report from Q2 2022.

Here are the eight key findings on smart speakers:

1. Smart speaker ownership has stalled with the last growth spurt occurring Christmas 2020

From 2017 to 2019, smart speaker ownership soared from 7% to 33%. The pandemic froze purchases until Christmas 2020 when ownership jumped to 40% in Q1 2021. Since then ownership has stalled with no post-Christmas “pop” in 2021.

Early on, forecasters predicted a significant number of use cases for smart speakers. Perhaps ownership rates have stalled due to limited consumer applications besides playing music and answering simple questions. Since smart speakers are inherently at-home devices, consumer interest and attention might be more focused on out-of-home activities in the post-pandemic era.

2. Smart speaker ownership rates are in the mid-40s for 13-54s but only 27% for those over the age of 55

Only one in four Americans over the age of 55 own a smart speaker, perhaps due to limited perceived benefits. It is interesting to note that the older the demo, the greater the growth in smart speaker ownership. While coming off a low base, persons 55+ have the greater growth rate for ownership. 

3. As smart speaker ownership flattens, the share of AM/FM radio streaming on smart speakers also stabilizes

The proportion of total U.S. AM/FM radio streaming occurring via the smart speaker has stabilized as device ownership growth has stalled. According to Triton Digital, since 2021, AM/FM radio streaming via smart speaker has stabilized, growing slightly from 25% to 27%. It is impressive that in five years, over a quarter of total AM/FM radio streaming is now occurring via smart speakers. 

Of the 400+ Cumulus stations, 29% of all streaming occurs via smart speakers, stable from the prior year.

4. Smart speakers are vital to U.S. AM/FM radio as they are now more likely to be the only “radio device” in the home

Edison’s recent Infinite Dial study revealed that 40% of smart speaker owners do not have a radio in their home, up from 28% in 2018.

5. With an 80% penetration of smart speaker homes, Amazon Alexa is the dominant smart speaker device

32% of smart speaker homes have a Google Home. 12% of homes own both devices.

6. Given Alexa’s dominant device footprint, it is no surprise that Amazon Music is the most listened to platform on smart speakers

According to Edison’s “Share of Ear” Q2 2022, 20% of all tuning minutes on smart speakers goes to Amazon Music.

7. Aggressive promotion pays off as AM/FM radio is number one for smart speaker ad-supported audio shares

U.S. radio stations have aggressively promoted how to ask smart speakers to play favorite stations. AM/FM radio stations are consistently number one in ad-supported audio shares on smart speaker devices. No wonder as streaming now represents 16% of all time spent to AM/FM radio.

8. As with podcast listening, smart speaker ownership over-indexes in top markets and under-indexes in smaller markets

In the top 10 DMAs, smart speaker ownership is 17% more likely than average. In markets 51 and smaller, ownership is 20% less likely.

Smart speaker ownership is greatest in tech hubs and a mix of large and mid-size markets, according to Nielsen Scarborough.

Key findings:

• Smart speaker ownership has stalled with the last growth spurt occurring Christmas 2020
• Smart speaker ownership rates are in the mid-40s for 13-54s but only 27% for those over the age of 55
• As smart speaker ownership flattens, the share of AM/FM radio streaming on smart speakers also stabilizes
• Smart speakers are vital to U.S. AM/FM radio as they are now more likely to be the only “radio device” in the home
• With an 80% penetration of smart speaker homes, Amazon Alexa is the dominant smart speaker device
• Given Alexa’s dominant device footprint, it is no surprise that Amazon Music is the most listened to platform on smart speakers
• Aggressive promotion pays off as AM/FM radio is number one for smart speaker ad-supported audio shares
• As with podcast listening, smart speaker ownership over-indexes in top markets and under-indexes in smaller markets

Click here to view a 9-minute video of the key findings.

Download your copy of the Cumulus Media 2022 Audioscape:

Pierre Bouvard is the Chief Insights Officer of the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group^®.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.