Listeners with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto are more likely to stream music or listen to podcasts than those without the devices. That said, fresh Edison Research findings show these consumers still spend almost half their listening time in-car with AM/FM.
That’s the good news for broadcast station owners, and could buffet technology that creates a seamless over-the-air to streaming solution for listeners, too.
The insight comes from Edison Research’s Share of Ear dataset, based on a one-day listening diary. It measures the amount of time those in the U.S. age 13+ spend with all audio. Respondents also answer some demographic and consumer questions, including the presence of audio infotainment in-car systems in the primary vehicle in which they drive or ride.
The graphic below compares the in-car daily audio time for those who don’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Audio in the primary vehicle they drive or ride in, versus those who do have one of the systems.
The top bar shows that among listeners who don’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto; they spend the majority of their in-car audio time, 67%, listening to AM/FM radio, including over-the-air and streams. They spend 9% of their audio time streaming, 12% with SiriusXM, 4% with Podcasts, and 8% of their audio time with some other audio source, such as CDs.
The bottom bar shows that those who do have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in their primary vehicles spend twice as much time streaming: 18% of their daily in-car audio time is spent streaming, compared with 9% of daily in-car audio time spent streaming by those without the systems. They also spend more of their daily in-car audio time with podcasts than listeners who don’t have the systems: 7% compared with 4%. Listeners who do have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto spend 46% of their time with AM/FM — 27% less than those who don’t have CarPlay or Auto.
“Even those with these systems choose AM/FM for nearly half of their in-car listening,” Edison shares. “For many people, even with so many new options, radio and the in-car environment continue to just go together.”
