---
title: "Study shows Americans now listen to podcasts more than talk radio"
description: "☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story Last year, podcasts surpassed AM/FM talk radio in total listening time for the first time in the U.S., according to a new study from Edison Research. Among Americans ages 13 and older, 40% of time spent listening to “spoken-word audio” was dedicated to podcasts, compared with […]"
date: "2026-02-26"
authors:
  - name: "jhaner"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/study-shows-americans-now-listen-to-podcasts-more-than-talk-radio/"
---

# Study shows Americans now listen to podcasts more than talk radio

**☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information*.* [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)*

**In today*’*s email:**

- **Featured story:** Study shows Americans now listen to podcasts more than talk radio

- **In other news:** U.K. news organizations form AI publishing rights coalition

- **Looking ahead:** Politico plans Australia expansion

- **Chart of the week:** How many teens use AI chatbots for information and news?

🔥 **Featured story**

Last year, **podcasts surpassed AM/FM talk radio in total listening time for the first time **in the U.S., according to a [new study from Edison Research](https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/25/americans-now-listen-to-podcasts-more-often-than-talk-radio-study-shows/).** **Among Americans ages 13 and older, 40% of time spent listening to “spoken-word audio” was dedicated to podcasts, compared with 39% dedicated to talk radio.

In a [2025 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/podcasts-and-news-fact-sheet/), **just over half of U.S. adults (54%) said they’d listened to a podcast in the prior 12 months. **Americans are still more likely to say they at least sometimes [get news from radio](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/#who-uses-each-news-platform) (44%) rather than podcasts (32%). But the share of U.S. adults who get news from podcasts has increased by 10 percentage points since 2020, while the share who get news from radio has ticked down over that time.

📌 **In other news**

- **U.K. news organizations** form [AI publishing rights coalition](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/uk-news-organizations-form-media-coalition-ai-publishing-1236673371/)

- **The Washington Post** [lost over $100 million](https://www.wsj.com/business/media/washington-post-losses-topped-100-million-in-2025-85076aae?st=ppV96Q&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) in 2025; **The Athletic **hires several laid-off [Post sports writers](https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/athletic-washington-post-dc-sports-writers)

- [Record number](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/25/record-number-journalists-killed-2025-israel-gaza-war) of **press** **members killed** globally in 2025

- **California Gov. Gavin Newsom **[endorses age restrictions for social media](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/21/online-age-newsom-social-media-00791870)

- **Nexstar **[lays off employees](https://thedesk.net/2026/02/nexstar-layoffs-ktla-wpix-tegna-deal/) at Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City stations

- **Ibram X. Kendi **set to [relaunch The Emancipator](https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2026/ibram-kendi-relaunching-the-emancipator-howard-university/) at **Howard University**

- A look at **Texas** **Rep. Jasmine Crockett's **[tensions with journalists ](https://www.semafor.com/article/02/24/2026/texas-senate-candidate-jasmine-crockett-escalates-her-war-on-the-press)covering her Senate campaign

- Early numbers show [decline in TV ratings ](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/state-of-the-union-2026-tv-ratimgs-trump-1236514822/)for this year’s **State of the Union address**

- **Trump administration **seeks more control at [two federally funded news organizations](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/us/politics/trump-radio-free-europe.html)

📅 **Looking ahead**

**Politico **will soon [launch an Australia version](https://www.semafor.com/article/02/24/2026/politico-is-launching-in-australia), adding to its politically focused coverage of the U.S. and Europe.

Nearly 20 years after Politico launched in the U.S., 49% of Americans say they have heard of it, and 8% say they regularly get news there, according to a [2025 Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/feature/news-media-tracker/politico). **Politico’s U.S. readership tends to lean left:** 12% of Democrats and 4% of Republicans regularly get news there. Democrats also are more likely than Republicans to say they trust Politico as a source of news (21% vs. 4%).

📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart comes from a [new Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/02/24/how-teens-use-and-view-ai/) investigating **how teens use and view AI. **A majority of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 (57%) say they have used AI chatbots to search for information. Far fewer, but still about one-in-five (19%), have used chatbots to get news.

![A bar chart that shows More than half of teens say they have used AI chatbots for finding information, doing schoolwork](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/PI_2026.02.24_teens-and-ai_0-01-1.png?w=640)

*👋 That's all for this week. *

The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Joanne Haner and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.

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