Edison Analysis at SSRS this week launched the Infinite Dial 2026, marking the twenty eighth consecutive yr of its landmark survey on American digital media conduct. The findings, offered in a reside webinar on March 12, 2026, set up new information throughout podcasting, on-line audio, and – for the primary time within the research’s historical past – generative synthetic intelligence adoption.
The survey, sponsored by SiriusXM Media, coated 2,050 people aged 12 and older, interviewed in January 2026. Half the pattern got here from the SSRS Opinion Panel recruited by way of probability-based strategies together with random-digit dialing and address-based sampling. The opposite half used a non-probability on-line panel. Information have been weighted to U.S. Census figures for the 12-plus inhabitants, and the questionnaire was supplied in each English and Spanish.
“The disruption is not coming. It is right here, and we’ll be watching intently,” mentioned Megan Lazovick, Vice President at Edison Analysis at SSRS, through the webinar presentation. James Cridland, editor of Pod Information and a 2025 inductee to the podcast corridor of fame, co-presented the information.
On-line audio at its highest level in 28 years
The headline on-line audio determine is 81% of the U.S. inhabitants aged 12 and older – an estimated 233 million individuals – reporting that they listened to on-line audio within the final month. That’s an all-time excessive since Edison Analysis started monitoring the metric in 2000, when the determine stood at simply 5%. Weekly listening reached 76%, equal to 219 million individuals.
The research defines on-line audio as listening to AM/FM radio stations on-line and/or listening to streamed audio content material out there completely on the web.
What makes the 2026 determine notably placing isn’t the whole, however the place the expansion got here from. Amongst People aged 12 to 34, month-to-month on-line audio listening truly slipped barely, from 90% in 2024 to 88% in 2026. Amongst these 35 to 54, the determine held flat at 87%. Your entire web achieve of the previous two years sits with one demographic: People aged 55 and older, who moved from 52% in 2024 to 63% in 2025 after which to 70% in 2026. That’s an 18-percentage-point achieve in two years.
For radio broadcasters and audio advertisers, the information carries direct implications. Conventional AM/FM radio has lengthy relied on older listeners as its core viewers. Those self same listeners are actually going digital at a tempo that was not noticed amongst this age cohort in earlier years. Advertisers have historically underinvested in older podcast demographics despite strong consumption, in response to evaluation printed by PPC Land in December 2025, which discovered that the 55-to-64 age group acquired simply 1.9% of age-targeted podcast impressions regardless of commanding family incomes properly above common
Spotify leads music streaming, however YouTube Music wins older audiences
Amongst main on-line audio manufacturers, Spotify held the highest spot with 36% of the 12-plus inhabitants reporting use within the final month, adopted intently by YouTube Music at 34%, Pandora at 21%, Amazon Music at 19%, and Apple Music at 17%. iHeartRadio and SoundCloud rounded out the record at 12% and 6% respectively.
When respondents have been requested which service they use most frequently, Spotify’s lead was extra pronounced: 32% selected it, adopted by YouTube Music at 23%, with Apple Music and Pandora tied at 12%. The age breakdown complicates that image significantly, nevertheless. Amongst these 12 to 34, Spotify dominated at 49%, with Apple Music second at 18% and YouTube Music third at 16%. Amongst 35 to 54, Spotify nonetheless led at 29%, however YouTube Music closed the hole to 26%, with Pandora third at 16%.
Among the many 55-plus group, the information produced the research’s most shocking platform discovering: YouTube Music was primary, chosen by 28% of that cohort, in comparison with Pandora at 17% and Spotify at 16%. A platform constructed primarily round video has turn out to be the main audio streaming vacation spot for older People – a mirrored image of how YouTube has turn out to be central to all types of media consumption, not simply video.
Audiobook listening additionally continued its long-run improve. In 2015, 21% of the 12-plus inhabitants had listened to an audiobook within the earlier yr. That determine reached 37% in 2026, an estimated 107 million individuals.
Podcast consumption units new information throughout all metrics
Podcasting produced a set of figures that the analysis workforce described as uniformly record-breaking. Consciousness reached 86%, with an estimated 248 million People aged 12 and older reporting familiarity with the time period. Extra meaningfully, 80% reported having ever listened to or watched a podcast, equal to 230 million individuals. Ranging from 2025, the research up to date its query to incorporate watching, acknowledging the medium’s growth into video.
Month-to-month podcast consumption reached 58%, an estimated 167 million individuals. Weekly consumption stood at 45%, equal to 130 million listeners. The weekly determine is notable as a result of it has been closing the hole with the month-to-month determine sooner than in prior years, suggesting that common podcast habits are deepening reasonably than simply broadening.
Podcast advertising spending surged 32% year-over-year in Q4 2025, in response to Magellan AI knowledge coated by PPC Land in February 2026, making the Infinite Dial viewers figures instantly related to funds allocation selections. With 68% of People aged 35 to 54 now consuming not less than one podcast monthly, the medium reaches greater than two-thirds of what the promoting business constantly ranks as a premium shopping for demographic.
Gender variations persist. In 2026, 62% of males reported month-to-month podcast consumption versus 54% of ladies, a niche of 9 share factors. Each figures have risen constantly over 4 years, and the vast majority of each teams are actually month-to-month customers.
Age segmentation yields extra granular perception for marketing campaign planners. Month-to-month consumption amongst 12 to 34 year-olds reached 64%; amongst 35 to 54 year-olds, 68%; amongst these 55 and older, 44%. The 55-plus determine was 21% in 2023, which means that group has greater than doubled its month-to-month podcast consumption in three years.
Video and audio coexist, they don’t compete
One of the crucial virtually vital findings within the Infinite Dial 2026 considerations the connection between video and audio podcast codecs. Slightly than treating them as competing consumption modes, the information recommend most customers use each.
Amongst all People who’ve ever consumed a podcast, 57% reported having each listened to and watched one. Solely 21% had listened however by no means watched; 2% had watched however by no means listened. This breakdown holds throughout month-to-month and weekly measures as properly. Within the final month, 36% of respondents each listened and watched, 15% listened solely, and seven% watched solely. On a weekly foundation, 26% did each, 13% listened solely, and 6% watched solely.
Two supporting datasets from different Edison Analysis research reinforce the image. Edison’s Share of Ear research, which measures time spent with audio sources on a diary day, discovered that 32% of all podcast time in This autumn 2025 was spent with YouTube, adopted by Spotify at 25% and Apple at 20%. Edison Podcast Metrics, which measures attain amongst weekly podcast customers, discovered YouTube the first podcast service for 39% of them, Spotify at 20%, and Apple Podcasts at 11%.
“Video is not changing podcast audio. It is increasing the tent,” mentioned Lazovick through the presentation.
YouTube’s total place within the U.S. media panorama stands out independently of its position in podcasting. In line with the Infinite Dial 2026, 91% of People aged 12 and older have ever used YouTube. Month-to-month utilization stands at 84%, and weekly utilization at 78% – which means roughly 4 in 5 People interacted with the platform in any given week through the survey interval.
Social media utilization held broadly secure at 85% of People aged 12 and older, an estimated 246 million individuals. The 2026 determine is fractionally under the 86% recorded in 2025 however throughout the vary of statistical noise that has characterised this metric since 2020.
What isn’t secure is which platform every demographic makes use of most. Fb remained the most important single platform with 68% total utilization, adopted by Instagram at 54%, TikTok at 42%, Reddit at 38%, Pinterest at 35%, LinkedIn at 34%, Snapchat at 31%, and X/Twitter at 30%. Smaller platforms included Discord at 21%, Threads at 15%, Fact Social at 6%, Bluesky at 5%, and Mastodon at 2%.
Nevertheless, on the query of which platform respondents use most frequently, TikTok recorded a milestone: for the primary time within the Infinite Dial’s measurement historical past, TikTok emerged because the most-used social media platform amongst People aged 12 to 34, most popular by 29% of that group. Fb got here second amongst this age group at 16%, and Instagram tied with it at 22%. Fb dominated amongst these 35 to 54 at 45%, and amongst these 55 and older at 66%.
These platform preferences carry direct penalties for promoting attain. The demographic break up signifies that a model relying completely on Fb will battle to achieve anybody beneath 35 in significant numbers, whereas a TikTok-only technique will largely miss adults over 55. Social media investment analysis covering $42 billion in historical spend present in February 2026 that TikTok funding truly pulled again 8 share factors after heavy 2024 progress, at the same time as ROI improved, suggesting that many manufacturers had not but aligned their allocation with viewers fragmentation realities.
Reddit’s place additionally attracts consideration. With 38% utilization, Reddit outranks each Pinterest and LinkedIn – platforms which have traditionally commanded bigger promoting budgets. Reddit’s person base skews closely male at 70% of those that use it most frequently, and its age composition reveals roughly equal thirds amongst 12 to 34 and 35 to 54 cohorts.
X/Twitter skews male at 74% and towards the 35-to-54 group. Snapchat’s viewers is overwhelmingly beneath 35, with 81% of frequent customers falling within the 12-to-34 band.
In-car audio: AM/FM leads, digital accelerates
The automobile stays a contested house. In line with S&P International Mobility knowledge cited through the webinar, the common automobile on American roads in 2026 is 12 years previous – which means the expertise infrastructure in most automobiles predates present streaming and integration requirements. That context shapes what the in-car knowledge can and can’t inform us.
AM/FM radio remained the most-used in-car audio supply at 73%, down from 84% a decade in the past in 2016. On-line audio reached 48% in 2026, greater than doubling from 21% in 2016. Podcasts, which weren’t tracked in-car in 2016, reached 37%. SiriusXM held at 24%, and CD utilization dropped from 56% in 2016 to 26% right now.
The age breakdown for in-car audio is the place the generational pressure is most seen. Amongst 18-to-34-year-old drivers, on-line audio within the automobile reached 73% – greater than AM/FM radio at 65% among the many similar group. Podcasts reached 55% amongst that cohort. Amongst these 55 and older, AM/FM radio dominated at 81%, with on-line audio at 27% and podcasts at solely 18%.
Apple CarPlay or Android Auto was current in 41% of main automobiles, just about unchanged from 2025. Of those that have the system, 83% actively use it. That 34% total energetic utilization price represents a major share of drivers who’re routing their audio consumption by way of smartphone integration – and subsequently by way of streaming apps reasonably than conventional radio tuners.
Programmatic audio including podcast advertising is projected to become a fully omnichannel medium by 2026, in response to PPC Land’s December 2025 evaluation of business forecasts, with streaming, podcasts, and broadcast radio changing into identity-infused and programmatically out there by way of enterprise demand-side platforms.
Generative AI: adoption sooner than any prior expertise measured
The Infinite Dial 2026 launched generative AI as a measurement class for the primary time, and the opening figures recommend the expertise has achieved cultural saturation at a tempo that no prior medium within the research’s 28-year historical past has matched.
Amongst People aged 12 and older, 93% reported familiarity with not less than one generative AI model. By comparability, after greater than 20 years of measurement, podcasting consciousness stood at 86% in 2026. The AI consciousness determine of 93% was achieved in roughly three years.
Utilization tells a equally placing story. In line with the Infinite Dial 2026, 57% of People have ever used a generative AI assistant. Podcasting took 16 years to achieve the identical milestone.
The correlation between AI utilization and broader digital media consumption is among the most actionable findings within the report for advertising professionals. Amongst People who’ve used generative AI, 87% listened to on-line audio within the final week, in comparison with 61% of those that haven’t used AI. Weekly podcast consumption stood at 55% amongst AI customers versus 33% amongst non-users. Social media utilization within the final week was 92% amongst AI customers and 72% amongst non-users. YouTube utilization within the final week was 87% amongst AI customers and 66% amongst non-users.
The sample means that AI adopters are usually not a separate section of the inhabitants – they’re heavy customers of basically each digital media format. For advertisers, reaching AI-active customers doubtless means reaching probably the most media-engaged portion of the general viewers.
Individually, Edison Analysis at SSRS right now additionally reported early findings from a brand new ongoing product: AI Consumer Metrics, a research that surveys People aged 18 and older twice monthly utilizing the SSRS Opinion Panel. Wave 1 ran February 6-9, 2026, and Wave 2 ran February 20-23, 2026. In line with the February knowledge, 52% of People aged 18 and older use not less than one AI chatbot on a weekly foundation, with many utilizing multiple.
The AI Consumer Metrics product additionally produced a discovering particular to Claude from Anthropic. Between Wave 1 in early February and Wave 3, which concluded round March 9, 2026, consciousness of Claude AI from Anthropic elevated by 58%. The report attributed the rise partly to Anthropic’s Tremendous Bowl promoting and to the corporate’s public dispute with the U.S. Division of Protection that subsequently resulted in a lawsuit.
Consumer AI adoption is accelerating even as concerns about data access persist, in response to a Shift Browser research coated by PPC Land in March 2026. That research of 1,448 People discovered that 32% use AI day by day, at the same time as 81% report considerations about AI knowledge practices.
For advertising professionals, the AI consumption and consciousness knowledge raises sensible questions on how quickly AI platforms will become advertising channels. PPC Land coated evaluation in December 2025 from Debra Aho Williamson, the analyst who produced one of many first social media promoting forecasts in 2007, predicting that 2026 could be the yr AI media emerges alongside social and retail media as a major promoting vacation spot.
The Infinite Dial knowledge carry operational weight for anybody managing media budgets or planning campaigns. A number of particular numbers deserve consideration from practitioners:
The 55-plus on-line audio surge issues as a result of that demographic has traditionally been underserved by digital audio promoting. Research published in December 2025 discovered that advertisers directed 43.5% of all age-targeted podcast impressions to 25 to 34 year-olds whereas allocating simply 1.9% to the 55-to-64 group.
The TikTok milestone as the highest platform for under-35 audiences, for the primary time, arrived amid wider uncertainty concerning the platform’s regulatory standing within the U.S. Advertisers planning youth-focused campaigns now have clearer affirmation of the place that viewers is concentrated, whereas additionally having to account for platform threat.
The 68% month-to-month podcast consumption price amongst 35 to 54 year-olds makes podcasting one of many few digital channels with documented majority attain in a premium advertiser demographic. Q4 2025 podcast advertising spending grew 32% year-over-year, with 1,482 new manufacturers coming into the channel, in response to Magellan AI knowledge coated by PPC Land.
The 57% dual-format consumption price – listeners who’ve additionally watched a podcast – means distribution methods that ignore video are actually reaching a smaller portion of the whole viewers than people who embrace it. YouTube’s 39% share as the first podcast service by attain confirms {that a} video platform has successfully turn out to be the most important podcast platform by person depend.
Timeline
Abstract
Who: Edison Analysis at SSRS, acquired by SSRS in October 2025, with sponsorship from SiriusXM Media. Offered by Megan Lazovick, Vice President at Edison Analysis at SSRS, and James Cridland, editor of Pod Information.
What: The Infinite Dial 2026 is the twenty eighth annual version of America’s longest-running survey of digital media shopper conduct, protecting on-line audio, podcasting, social media, in-car media, gadget possession, and – for the primary time – generative AI adoption. Key findings embrace all-time excessive podcast month-to-month consumption at 58% (167 million individuals), on-line audio month-to-month attain at 81% (233 million), and 93% generative AI model consciousness.
When: The survey was carried out in January 2026 amongst 2,050 people aged 12 and older. Outcomes have been offered in a public webinar on March 12, 2026.
The place: The survey covers the U.S. inhabitants aged 12 and older. The info have been weighted to U.S. Census nationwide inhabitants figures. The webinar was broadcast publicly by way of Edison Analysis’s web site and YouTube.
Why: The Infinite Dial is the first longitudinal benchmark for digital audio consumption in america, relied upon by content material producers, media corporations, promoting companies, and monetary establishments to know how People’ media habits change over time. The 2026 version is especially vital as a result of it introduces generative AI measurement for the primary time, paperwork the digital migration of older audiences which have traditionally been the core of conventional broadcast radio, confirms TikTok as the highest social platform for People beneath 35, and establishes that podcasting has now reached the vast majority of all People on a month-to-month foundation.
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