As the debate over keeping AM radio in vehicles continues, rural advocates stress its unique importance in small-town America. Groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation and Rural & Agriculture Council of America have joined more than 125 organizations supporting AM’s preservation, citing its unmatched reach in many areas. Fresh data from Edison Research underscores their position, showing that one-third of daily audio listening among rural residents aged 13 and older is spent with traditional AM/FM receivers.
Edison’s Share of Ear report finds this share is 21% higher than in urban areas, where reliance on car radios, boomboxes, and clock radios is lower. Suburban listeners also lean heavily on traditional devices, with three in ten minutes of daily audio still spent on AM/FM. In major cities, even with reduced in-car listening due to lower vehicle ownership rates, 28% of audio time remains tied to conventional receivers.
Mobile devices are steadily gaining ground, however. Edison reports that smartphones and tablets now account for more listening time than traditional receivers, particularly in urban markets, where mobile represents 40% of daily audio consumption. Suburban and rural listeners also use mobile heavily, though rural Americans still dedicate more time to over-the-air radio than any other group. Even in these areas, about a third of daily audio comes through mobile platforms.
Edison concludes that while mobile is reshaping how people consume audio, traditional AM/FM receivers remain a central part of the listening mix, especially outside large cities.