A new study reveals that the radio audience doesn’t just overlap with podcast listeners – it often outperforms other platforms entirely, making AM/FM one of podcasting’s most engaged and loyal pipelines for fan growth, monetization, and audience retention.
The Advertising Landscape 2025 from Sounds Profitable surveyed monthly ad-supported podcast listeners and asked them to rate how much of a “fan” they were of the medium.
Among daily users of AM/FM radio, 42% identified as podcast “fans” (rating 8–10 on a 10-point scale), while just 11% fell into the “anti-fan” category. That fan rate exceeds TikTok (34%), YouTube (33%), and cable TV (29%), reinforcing that podcast engagement is strongest among audiences already aligned with radio’s long-form, spoken-word strengths.
Streaming AM/FM radio listeners scored even higher: 57% identified as podcast fans, the highest rate of any medium surveyed.
Overall, the report found that 40% of monthly ad-supported podcast listeners qualify as fans, while 11% are “anti-fans” – listeners who’ve sampled podcasts but haven’t fully embraced the format. The remaining 49% fall into a lukewarm middle.
The gender gap is notable: while 44% of men identify as podcast fans, just 33% of women do. For broadcasters and audio creators alike, that’s a signal to invest in formats and shows that connect more deeply with female listeners who are already sampling the content but aren’t yet hooked.
The most podcast-enthusiastic demographic was adults 35–54. Nearly half (46%) of those listeners identify as fans, with just 7% calling themselves anti-fans. Listeners 55 and up, meanwhile, remain more hesitant: only 27% of them are podcast fans despite monthly listening, suggesting content or discovery gaps within older demos that radio programmers may be uniquely positioned to bridge.
The research also underscores a correlation between paid media and podcast fandom: subscribers to satellite and paid streaming audio services reported higher levels of engagement than users of free platforms, but traditional AM/FM still outperformed key video-first platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and cable.
For radio, the takeaway is clear: audio-first audiences remain podcasting’s most fertile ground for growth. That makes broadcast radio’s role in driving podcast discovery, affinity, and advertiser ROI even more critical as the medium matures.
