MTM says when anglophones look for news online, over half still turn to the websites of established broadcasters like CBC, BBC, CTV, and CNN, while nearly 20% get their online news from the website of a major daily Canadian newspaper. More than half of French-speakers say they turn to the websites of established broadcasters like Radio-Canada, TVA Nouvelles, and MétéoMédia, with three in seven mentioning newspaper websites like La Presse and the La Presse+ app.

MTM found that 87% of anglophones and 89% of francophones engage with news monthly by watching specialty news channels, reading online news articles, or watching news clips online.

Age influences preferred news sources, with older Canadians tending to watch more specialty news channel content, while younger viewers were twice as likely to use YouTube as a news platform.

MTM also looked at how newcomers to Canada are engaging with news, finding that four in five consume news monthly. Two-thirds read news online, and just over three in five watch news online. Newcomers to Canada are most likely to use smartphones to access news, followed by computers. Tablet usage for news is notably lower among newcomers compared to those born in Canada (10% vs. 20%).

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The Infinite Dial is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behaviour, tracking usage of radio, streaming audio, podcasting and social media.

The latest survey, which was in field in January, encompassed a national sample of 5,020 Americans, age 12+, with over 1,000 surveyed by telephone and more than 4,000 online. The data is weighted to the U.S. population.

Online Audio

This year’s survey finds that overall listening to online audio, including streaming of AM/FM radio, podcasts, and music streaming, is at an all-time high, continuing to increase with 79% or 228 million Americans listening monthly, up from 76% in 2024. By age, 90% of those 12-34 are listening online, 87% of those 35-54, and 63% of those age 55+, up significantly year-over-year.

On a weekly basis, 73% of Americans, 12+ are listening online, up from 70% last year.

Spotify leads brand awareness at 87%, followed by Pandora (84%), and Apple Music, which tied with Amazon Music and YouTube Music for third place at 77%.

Spotify dominates as the online audio brand used most often at 34%, 12+, rising among those 12-34 to 47%. 

Podcasting

When it comes to podcast listening, as of Q4 2024, Edison says 34% of weekly listeners are choosing YouTube to listen to podcasts, followed by Spotify (26%) and Apple Podcasts (14%)

Podcast listening showed impressive growth in this year’s survey, driven in part, by a move by Edison to include both audio and video podcast consumption data.

According to this year’s Infinite Dial, 73% or 250 million Americans, 12 and older, have ever consumed a podcast, either in audio or video form.

Fifty-five per cent of the U.S. population, 12+, are now monthly podcast consumers, an estimated 158 million consumers. On a listening vs. watching basis, 48% of respondents said they had listened to a podcast in the last month, while 37% answered ‘yes’ to watching a podcast.

Radio futurologist and PodNews publisher James Cridland, who co-hosted this year’s Infinite Dial livestream, was quick to point out that audio is still the big number.

“Audio podcasts give your ears something to enjoy while your eyes are busy doing other things,” said Cridland. “And that’s a real benefit to audiences, and we need to be really careful not to ruin that.”

“More people now consume podcasts than don’t consume podcasts, which means I think we can now officially claim finally, that podcast consumption is mainstream,” said Cridland. “Podcasting is a mainstream media. It’s official.”

Due to a strong male video podcast base, the survey shows podcast consumption was higher among men than women, with 57% of men reporting monthly podcast consumption versus 52% of women. By age, 66% of those 12-34 are monthly podcast consumers, up from 59% in 2024. Sixty-one per cent of those 35-54 reported monthly consumption, up from 55% last year, with more significant gains among those aged 55 and older, rising from 27% last year to 38% this year. By political affiliation, a bump in Republican listeners continued with 53% of those who identify as a Democrat consuming a podcast in the last month vs. 56% who identified as Republican.

Weekly listening saw 40% of the U.S. population, 12+, report consuming a podcast in the last week, a one point gain over 2024 (35% listening vs. 26% watching).

In-car audio

This year’s survey solidified the increasing digitization of the in-car listening experience. While AM/FM radio is still used by 74% of those 18+ monthly, 55% are using online audio and 31% accessing podcasts while driving or riding.

By age, those 55+ over index on using linear media in-car, leading AM/FM listening at 84%, followed by those 35-54 at 78%. Among drivers and passengers, 18-34, online audio overtakes AM/FM (82% vs. 54%).

The number of drivers with access to an integrated system is also up sharply, from 32 to 40%. Those with a vehicle equipped with Apple CarPlay moves from 23 to 28%, with Android Auto cited by 19% of drivers surveyed, up from 16%.  

Social Media

Social media usage jumped from 82 to 86% of Americans year-over-year, the first movement in the category in five years.

Facebook leads social media brand usage at 66%, followed by Instagram (48%), TikTok (34%), Pinterest (31%), LinkedIn (29%), Snapchat (27%), Reddit (26%), and X (22%)

Elon Musk’s X, which lost 22 million users last year, actually experienced a small rebound, up from 19% in 2024, largely driven by Republican users.

With the survey in field around the time the American ban on TikTok was set to take effect on Jan. 19, Edison put the question to users as to which platform they would shift their time to in the event of an app shutdown. It solidly identified Meta brands, Instagram and Facebook, as the winners, with 39% of monthly TikTok users indicating Instagram would become their platform of choice.

Other insights from this year’s Infinite Dial include an increase in smart TV ownership, which jumped from 72 to 75% of Americans. Smart speaker ownership was up just one point to 35%, with those reporting listening to audio on a smart speaker in the past month also up one point from 21 to 22%. Those listening in the past week moved from 17 to 18% year-over-year.

This year’s survey also noted that audiobook listening fell over the last year from 38 to 36%.

The post Video pushes podcast consumption into mainstream, according to latest Infinite Dial appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.

Media Technology Monitor’s (MTM) latest report indicates three in 10 online Canadians are actively avoiding news content. The report, gauging Canadian perspectives towards news and journalism in general, indicates that news avoidance is more common among younger Canadians, women and English-speakers. Anglophones are more likely to say they avoid news because of its negative impact on their mental health, while Francophones were more likely to cite negativity and a lack of solutions offered to the issues being reported on. Read more here. 

Vizrt has released new research on sports viewer engagement suggesting the future of sports consumption is digital, revealing drastically different habits for younger audiences. While over 76% of respondents’ top choice for watching sports content is still on television, over half of Gen Z (67%) – those born in the late 1990s to early 2000s – prefer consuming sports content on their phones while on the go (vs. 54% of millennials and 23% of Gen X). Overall, 30% of respondents stated they watch sports on their mobile phones regardless of demographic. Viewers are also watching on digital channels more than ever before with nearly 60% of all respondents, and 74% of Gen Z, sharing that they use social media to catch up on sports, indicating a further decline in traditional sports viewing experiences. The report says full-game viewing experiences are becoming rarer, as the younger generation prefers highlights and catch-up options. Only 58% of Gen Z watch sports live from start to finish, emphasizing the need for shorter, more condensed content.

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