Edison Research at SSRS this week released the Infinite Dial 2026, marking the 28th consecutive year of its landmark survey on American digital media behavior. The findings, presented in a live webinar on March 12, 2026, establish new records across podcasting, online audio, and - for the first time in the study's history - generative artificial intelligence adoption.

The survey, sponsored by SiriusXM Media, covered 2,050 individuals aged 12 and older, interviewed in January 2026. Half the sample came from the SSRS Opinion Panel recruited through probability-based methods including random-digit dialing and address-based sampling. The other half used a non-probability online panel. Data were weighted to U.S. Census figures for the 12-plus population, and the questionnaire was offered in both English and Spanish.

"The disruption isn't coming. It's here, and we'll be watching closely," said Megan Lazovick, Vice President at Edison Research at SSRS, during the webinar presentation. James Cridland, editor of Pod News and a 2025 inductee to the podcast hall of fame, co-presented the data.

Online audio at its highest point in 28 years

The headline online audio figure is 81% of the U.S. population aged 12 and older - an estimated 233 million people - reporting that they listened to online audio in the last month. That is an all-time high since Edison Research began tracking the metric in 2000, when the figure stood at just 5%. Weekly listening reached 76%, equivalent to 219 million people.

The study defines online audio as listening to AM/FM radio stations online and/or listening to streamed audio content available exclusively on the internet.

What makes the 2026 figure particularly striking is not the total, but where the growth came from. Among Americans aged 12 to 34, monthly online audio listening actually slipped slightly, from 90% in 2024 to 88% in 2026. Among those 35 to 54, the figure held flat at 87%. The entire net gain of the past two years sits with one demographic: Americans aged 55 and older, who moved from 52% in 2024 to 63% in 2025 and then to 70% in 2026. That is an 18-percentage-point gain in two years.

For radio broadcasters and audio advertisers, the data carries direct implications. Traditional AM/FM radio has long relied on older listeners as its core audience. Those same listeners are now going digital at a pace that was not observed among this age cohort in previous years. Advertisers have historically underinvested in older podcast demographics despite strong consumption, according to analysis published by PPC Land in December 2025, which found that the 55-to-64 age group received just 1.9% of age-targeted podcast impressions despite commanding household incomes well above average

Spotify leads music streaming, but YouTube Music wins older audiences

Among major online audio brands, Spotify held the top spot with 36% of the 12-plus population reporting use in the last month, followed closely by YouTube Music at 34%, Pandora at 21%, Amazon Music at 19%, and Apple Music at 17%. iHeartRadio and SoundCloud rounded out the list at 12% and 6% respectively.

When respondents were asked which service they use most often, Spotify's lead was more pronounced: 32% chose it, followed by YouTube Music at 23%, with Apple Music and Pandora tied at 12%. The age breakdown complicates that picture considerably, however. Among those 12 to 34, Spotify dominated at 49%, with Apple Music second at 18% and YouTube Music third at 16%. Among 35 to 54, Spotify still led at 29%, but YouTube Music closed the gap to 26%, with Pandora third at 16%.

Among the 55-plus group, the data produced the study's most surprising platform finding: YouTube Music was number one, chosen by 28% of that cohort, compared to Pandora at 17% and Spotify at 16%. A platform built primarily around video has become the leading audio streaming destination for older Americans - a reflection of how YouTube has become central to all forms of media consumption, not just video.

Audiobook listening also continued its long-run increase. In 2015, 21% of the 12-plus population had listened to an audiobook in the previous year. That figure reached 37% in 2026, an estimated 107 million people.

Podcast consumption sets new records across all metrics

Podcasting produced a set of figures that the research team described as uniformly record-breaking. Awareness reached 86%, with an estimated 248 million Americans aged 12 and older reporting familiarity with the term. More meaningfully, 80% reported having ever listened to or watched a podcast, equivalent to 230 million people. Starting from 2025, the study updated its question to include watching, acknowledging the medium's expansion into video.

Monthly podcast consumption reached 58%, an estimated 167 million people. Weekly consumption stood at 45%, equivalent to 130 million listeners. The weekly figure is notable because it has been closing the gap with the monthly figure faster than in prior years, suggesting that regular podcast habits are deepening rather than just broadening.

Podcast advertising spending surged 32% year-over-year in Q4 2025, according to Magellan AI data covered by PPC Land in February 2026, making the Infinite Dial audience figures directly relevant to budget allocation decisions. With 68% of Americans aged 35 to 54 now consuming at least one podcast per month, the medium reaches more than two-thirds of what the advertising industry consistently ranks as a premium buying demographic.

Gender differences persist. In 2026, 62% of men reported monthly podcast consumption versus 54% of women, a gap of 9 percentage points. Both figures have risen consistently over four years, and the majority of both groups are now monthly consumers.

Age segmentation yields more granular insight for campaign planners. Monthly consumption among 12 to 34 year-olds reached 64%; among 35 to 54 year-olds, 68%; among those 55 and older, 44%. The 55-plus figure was 21% in 2023, meaning that group has more than doubled its monthly podcast consumption in three years.

Video and audio coexist, they do not compete

One of the most practically significant findings in the Infinite Dial 2026 concerns the relationship between video and audio podcast formats. Rather than treating them as competing consumption modes, the data suggest most consumers use both.

Among all Americans who have ever consumed a podcast, 57% reported having both listened to and watched one. Only 21% had listened but never watched; 2% had watched but never listened. This breakdown holds across monthly and weekly measures as well. In the last month, 36% of respondents both listened and watched, 15% listened only, and 7% watched only. On a weekly basis, 26% did both, 13% listened only, and 6% watched only.

Two supporting datasets from other Edison Research studies reinforce the picture. Edison's Share of Ear study, which measures time spent with audio sources on a diary day, found that 32% of all podcast time in Q4 2025 was spent with YouTube, followed by Spotify at 25% and Apple at 20%. Edison Podcast Metrics, which measures reach among weekly podcast consumers, found YouTube the primary podcast service for 39% of them, Spotify at 20%, and Apple Podcasts at 11%.

"Video isn't replacing podcast audio. It's expanding the tent," said Lazovick during the presentation.

YouTube's overall position in the U.S. media landscape stands out independently of its role in podcasting. According to the Infinite Dial 2026, 91% of Americans aged 12 and older have ever used YouTube. Monthly usage stands at 84%, and weekly usage at 78% - meaning roughly four in five Americans interacted with the platform in any given week during the survey period.

Social media fragmenting by generation

Social media usage held broadly stable at 85% of Americans aged 12 and older, an estimated 246 million people. The 2026 figure is fractionally below the 86% recorded in 2025 but within the range of statistical noise that has characterized this metric since 2020.

What is not stable is which platform each demographic uses most. Facebook remained the largest single platform with 68% overall usage, followed 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%, Truth Social at 6%, Bluesky at 5%, and Mastodon at 2%.

However, on the question of which platform respondents use most often, TikTok recorded a milestone: for the first time in the Infinite Dial's measurement history, TikTok emerged as the most-used social media platform among Americans aged 12 to 34, preferred by 29% of that group. Facebook came second among this age group at 16%, and Instagram tied with it at 22%. Facebook dominated among those 35 to 54 at 45%, and among those 55 and older at 66%.

These platform preferences carry direct consequences for advertising reach. The demographic split means that a brand relying exclusively on Facebook will struggle to reach anyone under 35 in meaningful numbers, while a TikTok-only strategy will largely miss adults over 55. Social media investment analysis covering $42 billion in historical spend found in February 2026 that TikTok investment actually pulled back 8 percentage points after heavy 2024 growth, even as ROI improved, suggesting that many brands had not yet aligned their allocation with audience fragmentation realities.

Reddit's position also draws attention. With 38% usage, Reddit outranks both Pinterest and LinkedIn - platforms that have historically commanded larger advertising budgets. Reddit's user base skews heavily male at 70% of those who use it most often, and its age composition shows roughly equal thirds among 12 to 34 and 35 to 54 cohorts.

X/Twitter skews male at 74% and toward the 35-to-54 group. Snapchat's audience is overwhelmingly under 35, with 81% of frequent users falling in the 12-to-34 band.

In-car audio: AM/FM leads, digital accelerates

The vehicle remains a contested space. According to S&P Global Mobility data cited during the webinar, the average car on American roads in 2026 is 12 years old - meaning the technology infrastructure in most vehicles predates current streaming and integration standards. That context shapes what the in-car data can and cannot tell us.

AM/FM radio remained the most-used in-car audio source at 73%, down from 84% a decade ago in 2016. Online audio reached 48% in 2026, more than doubling from 21% in 2016. Podcasts, which were not tracked in-car in 2016, reached 37%. SiriusXM held at 24%, and CD usage dropped from 56% in 2016 to 26% today.

The age breakdown for in-car audio is where the generational tension is most visible. Among 18-to-34-year-old drivers, online audio in the car reached 73% - higher than AM/FM radio at 65% among the same group. Podcasts reached 55% among that cohort. Among those 55 and older, AM/FM radio dominated at 81%, with online audio at 27% and podcasts at only 18%.

Apple CarPlay or Android Auto was present in 41% of primary vehicles, virtually unchanged from 2025. Of those who have the system, 83% actively use it. That 34% overall active usage rate represents a significant share of drivers who are routing their audio consumption through smartphone integration - and therefore through streaming apps rather than traditional radio tuners.

Programmatic audio including podcast advertising is projected to become a fully omnichannel medium by 2026, according to PPC Land's December 2025 analysis of industry forecasts, with streaming, podcasts, and broadcast radio becoming identity-infused and programmatically available through enterprise demand-side platforms.

Generative AI: adoption faster than any prior technology measured

The Infinite Dial 2026 introduced generative AI as a measurement category for the first time, and the opening figures suggest the technology has achieved cultural saturation at a pace that no prior medium in the study's 28-year history has matched.

Among Americans aged 12 and older, 93% reported familiarity with at least one generative AI brand. By comparison, after more than 20 years of measurement, podcasting awareness stood at 86% in 2026. The AI awareness figure of 93% was achieved in roughly three years.

Usage tells a similarly striking story. According to the Infinite Dial 2026, 57% of Americans have ever used a generative AI assistant. Podcasting took 16 years to reach the same milestone.

The correlation between AI usage and broader digital media consumption is one of the most actionable findings in the report for marketing professionals. Among Americans who have used generative AI, 87% listened to online audio in the last week, compared to 61% of those who have not used AI. Weekly podcast consumption stood at 55% among AI users versus 33% among non-users. Social media usage in the last week was 92% among AI users and 72% among non-users. YouTube usage in the last week was 87% among AI users and 66% among non-users.

The pattern suggests that AI adopters are not a separate segment of the population - they are heavy users of essentially every digital media format. For advertisers, reaching AI-active consumers likely means reaching the most media-engaged portion of the overall audience.

Separately, Edison Research at SSRS today also reported early findings from a new ongoing product: AI User Metrics, a study that surveys Americans aged 18 and older twice per month using the SSRS Opinion Panel. Wave 1 ran February 6-9, 2026, and Wave 2 ran February 20-23, 2026. According to the February data, 52% of Americans aged 18 and older use at least one AI chatbot on a weekly basis, with many using more than one.

The AI User Metrics product also produced a finding specific to Claude from Anthropic. Between Wave 1 in early February and Wave 3, which concluded around March 9, 2026, awareness of Claude AI from Anthropic increased by 58%. The report attributed the increase in part to Anthropic's Super Bowl advertising and to the company's public dispute with the U.S. Department of Defense that subsequently resulted in a lawsuit.

Consumer AI adoption is accelerating even as concerns about data access persist, according to a Shift Browser study covered by PPC Land in March 2026. That study of 1,448 Americans found that 32% use AI daily, even as 81% report concerns about AI data practices.

For marketing professionals, the AI consumption and awareness data raises practical questions about how quickly AI platforms will become advertising channels. PPC Land covered analysis in December 2025 from Debra Aho Williamson, the analyst who produced one of the first social media advertising forecasts in 2007, predicting that 2026 would be the year AI media emerges alongside social and retail media as a significant advertising destination.

Why the Infinite Dial 2026 matters for the marketing community

The Infinite Dial data carry operational weight for anyone managing media budgets or planning campaigns. Several specific numbers deserve attention from practitioners:

The 55-plus online audio surge matters because that demographic has historically been underserved by digital audio advertising. Research published in December 2025 found that advertisers directed 43.5% of all age-targeted podcast impressions to 25 to 34 year-olds while allocating just 1.9% to the 55-to-64 group.

The TikTok milestone as the top platform for under-35 audiences, for the first time, arrived amid wider uncertainty about the platform's regulatory status in the U.S. Advertisers planning youth-focused campaigns now have clearer confirmation of where that audience is concentrated, while also having to account for platform risk.

The 68% monthly podcast consumption rate among 35 to 54 year-olds makes podcasting one of the few digital channels with documented majority reach in a premium advertiser demographic. Q4 2025 podcast advertising spending grew 32% year-over-year, with 1,482 new brands entering the channel, according to Magellan AI data covered by PPC Land.

The 57% dual-format consumption rate - listeners who have also watched a podcast - means distribution strategies that ignore video are now reaching a smaller portion of the total audience than those that include it. YouTube's 39% share as the primary podcast service by reach confirms that a video platform has effectively become the largest podcast platform by user count.

Timeline

Summary

Who: Edison Research at SSRS, acquired by SSRS in October 2025, with sponsorship from SiriusXM Media. Presented by Megan Lazovick, Vice President at Edison Research at SSRS, and James Cridland, editor of Pod News.

What: The Infinite Dial 2026 is the 28th annual edition of America's longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior, covering online audio, podcasting, social media, in-car media, device ownership, and - for the first time - generative AI adoption. Key findings include all-time high podcast monthly consumption at 58% (167 million people), online audio monthly reach at 81% (233 million), and 93% generative AI brand awareness.

When: The survey was conducted in January 2026 among 2,050 individuals aged 12 and older. Results were presented in a public webinar on March 12, 2026.

Where: The survey covers the U.S. population aged 12 and older. The data were weighted to U.S. Census national population figures. The webinar was broadcast publicly via Edison Research's website and YouTube.

Why: The Infinite Dial is the primary longitudinal benchmark for digital audio consumption in the United States, relied upon by content producers, media companies, advertising agencies, and financial institutions to understand how Americans' media habits change over time. The 2026 edition is particularly significant because it introduces generative AI measurement for the first time, documents the digital migration of older audiences that have historically been the core of traditional broadcast radio, confirms TikTok as the top social platform for Americans under 35, and establishes that podcasting has now reached the majority of all Americans on a monthly basis.

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