Canadian radio captures five times the listening time of ad-supported Spotify
As is customary at this time of year, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford has released its annual Digital News Report. Widely regarded as one of the most authoritative sources within the news industry, the report examines how audiences consume news worldwide. This year’s findings are based on an online survey of 97,055 people in 48 countries, representing half of the world’s online population. The survey was conducted during the first two months of 2025.
According to responses about media habits during the previous week, 22% of respondents said they used radio as a news source. This figure falls below online and social media — both collectively and individually — and TV, but remains ahead of print and AI chatbots. Notably, it is double the global figure for news podcasts, which stands at 11%.
The data indicate a clear trend: globally, radio listening increases with age—27% of respondents aged 55 and over reported listening to news radio. For audio podcasts, the trend is reversed. Among 25- to 34-year-olds, 15% said they had listened to a news podcast in the past week, compared with 10% who had listened to news radio. Interestingly, people in this age group are also more likely to access news through AI chatbots (11%).
News radio junkies and indifference
The most dedicated radio news audiences are found in Africa and Europe. Kenya tops the list, with 41% saying they used radio for news in the past week, followed closely by Austria (40%), Nigeria (38%), Ireland, Norway and Sweden (all 36%) and Finland (35%). Aside from a notable increase in Australia, Finland and the Philippines, the number of people listening to radio has remained stable or declined elsewhere.
Conversely, countries with the lowest radio news usage include Indonesia (7%), Argentina (9%), Japan and Thailand (both 11%), Bulgaria (12%) and the United States (13%). Somewhat surprisingly, the United States and Bulgaria are among the countries with the highest reported usage of audio news podcasts, at 15%. Only South Korea scored higher, at 17%.
At the other end of the scale, Japan (3%), Argentina and Spain (both 4%), and Belgium and Singapore (both 5%) reported the lowest levels of news podcast listening.
Overall, people in Bulgaria, Indonesia, South Korea and the United States are more likely to listen to audio podcasts than radio. In Thailand, podcast and radio consumption are roughly equal.
The emerging news podcast listener
Audio news podcast listeners appear to be particularly engaged. According to the report, 71% of them say they are extremely or very interested in news, compared to 45% of those who don’t listen to podcasts.
Most audio podcast listeners use them to supplement other news sources. Only 2% say they rely on podcasts as their primary source of news.
One final insight: audio podcast listeners value the medium’s ability to fit into moments where visual news formats are impractical, such as while driving, cooking or exercising. This flexibility is cited as a unique strength of the format and may help explain why video versions of news podcasts attract less interest. For most listeners, the value lies in the content rather than visual elements such as studio setups or presenters’ on-screen presence
The author is a co-founder and research director at South 180.
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