The Problem With “Share”

In Nielsen’s radio methodology, “share” refers to the percent of total radio listening that a given station captures. But it’s a slice of a slice. If your market has 40 stations, you’re already dealing in fractions. Even a top-performing station might only report a share in the single digits.

Compare that to every other medium:

• Podcasts report downloads
• Digital audio reports streams
• TV touts impressions
• YouTube tracks views

These are all big numbers. In advertising, big numbers sell. Small numbers get overlooked.

Let’s Talk Impressions

The U.S. adult population is about 258.3 million. According to our State of Media 2025 report, roughly 76% of adults listen to the radio each week. That’s 196.3 million radio listeners.

We break those listeners into three groups:

• Frequent listeners (30%) tune in about 4 times per week
• Occasional listeners (24%) tune in about 2 times per week
• Rare listeners (22%) tune in about half a time per week

That gives us an estimated total of 462.3 million radio impressions per week. This assumes just one listening session per day—which we know is likely an undercount. We’re being conservative on purpose to show just how high these numbers really go.

Let’s Compare: The Daily vs. California Radio

The New York Times’ podcast The Daily reports about 1 million downloads per day, or 5 million per week.

Now let’s look at California. The state’s 18+ population is around 28.5 million. That translates to roughly 51 million weekly radio impressions.

If a single radio show reached just 10% of California’s radio listeners, it would hit about 5 million impressions per week. That’s nearly the same as one of the most popular podcasts in the world.

Now imagine the reach of a syndicated radio show airing coast to coast.

Reframe the Narrative

Radio doesn’t need to change what it is. It just needs to change how it presents itself.

Advertisers are looking for reach. They’re used to seeing big numbers. Radio has them—it just doesn’t always say them out loud.

It’s time to stop thinking small. Radio has a scale advantage. Let’s start using it.

The post Why Radio Needs to Rethink “Share” and Start Selling Big Numbers Like Everyone Else appeared first on Crowd React Media.

In this video:

• Key trends from the 2025 report
• How media habits are shifting across platforms
• What’s next: upcoming studies on Sports Media and Spanish-Language Media

Access all reports here!

The post How Audiences Have Changed in 30+ Years | Glenda Bos on the State of Media 2025 appeared first on Crowd React Media.

The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic on American soil upended media as we knew it.  Americans began to spend unprecedented amounts of their days consuming content on their various devices.  Outlets literally had a captive audience.  News media had an audience that was (naturally) fearful and hung on to every last broadcast, headline and polemic.  Social media had us hooked for it was the only way we could connect with most other people beyond our immediate families.  Zoom and videoconferencing became staples of work-life (especially among white-collar workers).  Podcast hosts became stand-ins for your real-life friends.  Screentime regularly extended to almost every waking hour for a good many people.  Videogames gave others an outlet, a salve for their boredom and lack of productivity.  The digital world became the sole means of existence for some. Even linear formats retained audiences.  The American people were boundless in their appetites for media content, because they were (mostly) stuck at home.

However, it’s been 5 years since the onset of the pandemic on American soil.  There are many that have declared ‘The End of the Pandemic’.  In truth, only in the last year or so has American life begun to resemble pre-pandemic times.  Some high-engagement activities of our pandemic lives are here to stay: Videoconferencing, Social Media, YouTube, and Streaming TV. Others have effectively stabilized in a manner that resembles their usage rates in the pre-covid era: Linear mediums (cable/radio), Music Streaming, Videogames, News Media consumption.

It’s taken some time, but public life has been restored in America.  The pandemic is firmly in the rear-view mirror.  This poses a problem for some media formats: They presumed that the media usage rates would continue and not abate, that the surge in media consumption throughout the pandemic years would hold steady for the foreseeable future.  This did not come to pass.  Americans are going outside and socializing and dating and hanging out in public spaces (been to a bar, recently? – They are packed).  This has led to less time spent consuming media content overall.

There are notable exceptions to a general reduction in American media consumption.  Namely, audiences are still spending a lot of time on social media, YouTube, and Streaming TV.  These are what you could call the media ‘victors’ of the Covid-19 era.  While other formats are nowhere near being in bad health, some habits from this period carried on to the era we refer to as the ‘new normal’.

This is all for today and thanks for stopping by.
I am Sean Bos and it has been a pleasure.

The post Return to (the new) Normal appeared first on Crowd React Media.

In the State of Media 2025 report, we examined the media habits of over 1,000 audiences surveyed in March and April 2025. The findings highlight a crucial opportunity for traditional broadcast outlets to capture younger audiences through short-form video content.

Why Short-Form Video?

Video content has become increasingly vital to connecting with younger demographics. Our study found that 93% of 18–34-year-olds report watching YouTube, with 66% identifying as heavy users (3+ days per week). Podcasts are also seeing a shift toward video, with 63% of audiences watching podcasts sometimes or always—a figure that climbs to 67% for younger demos. In the focus groups we conducted alongside the quantitative research for the State of Media report, younger audiences repeatedly emphasized how much short-form video content is a part of their daily routine. Many reported checking Reels or YouTube first thing in the morning, during breaks at work and school, while eating lunch, and at the end of the day.

Troubling Trends for Traditional Broadcast

For traditional broadcasters, the data highlights a noticeable drop in conversion rates for both radio and cable/satellite TV among younger demographics

• Cable/Satellite TV conversion fell from 65% in 2024 to 48% in 2025 among 18-34s—a steep 17-point drop.
• Radio saw a 15-point drop, from 51% to 36%.

While cable’s overall conversion rate remains high (71%), it’s buoyed primarily by older audiences. Radio’s total conversion sits at just 40%, down 7% from 2024. The decline in heavy usage and frequency is even more pronounced among younger audiences, emphasizing the need for new engagement strategies.

Leveraging Short-Form Video

For radio stations and local TV news, the opportunity is clear: tap into short-form content to build digital audiences and reclaim lost ground among younger demos.

• Repurpose morning traffic updates into quick, digestible video snippets sponsored by a local car dealership.
• Highlight key news segments as bite-sized shorts with catchy hooks to attract digital-native viewers.
• Think of top-of-the-hour news recaps as daily TikTok segments sponsored by a local bank or financial service.
• Convert morning radio trivia contests or giveaways into Instagram Reels with branded overlays sponsored by a local restaurant or coffee shop.
• Turn sports talk segments into a YouTube Shorts series sponsored by a local gym or sporting goods store.
• Create behind-the-scenes content, quick recaps, or even ‘Best Of’ clips to encourage social sharing and build digital brand affinity.

Why Now?

Audiences today crave content aggregation and local connection—a space where radio stations and local TV news can thrive. But to take advantage of this whitespace, broadcasters need to be intentional. Simply uploading content to YouTube is not enough. It needs to be chopped into bite-sized, engaging clips optimized for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok.

In this new landscape, loyalty isn’t about having a cable subscription or a radio preset—it’s about being where the audience already is. And right now, that place is digital, fast-paced, and video-driven.

To read the full State of Media 2025 report, click here.

The post Short Form Video: The Key to Reaching Younger Audiences for Radio and Local TV News appeared first on Crowd React Media.

Before getting into our big surprises, let’s dive into overall cume for the various media types surveyed in our keystone report. Here is a descending list of media sources with highest cume at the top:
2025 Total Media Cume
Social Media: 90%
Streaming TV: 84%
YouTube: 83%
Radio: 76%
News Media: 72%
Music Streaming: 69%
Cable/Satellite TV: 64%
Videogames: 59%
Podcasts: 51%

The above numbers reflect conventional wisdom about the viability and performance of today’s major media technologies. However, when applying our conversion metric, the picture gets a little shaky. We define conversion as the percentage of frequent users of a given media source divided by that source’s total cume. Conversion is otherwise the percentage of a media source’s total audience that frequently uses said source. When the preceding cume list is adjusted for conversion rates, there are a few surprises:
2025 Media Conversion
*Cume presented in parentheses
Social Media: 78% (90%)
Streaming TV: 72% (84%)
Cable/Satellite TV: 71% (64%)
YouTube: 59% (83%)
Music Streaming: 56% (69%)
Videogames: 50% (59%)
News Media: 45% (72%)
Radio: 40% (76%)
Podcasts: 32% (51%)


That Social Media and Streaming TV being top of the conversion list with highest levels of frequent use (and the largest cumes) comes as no surprise. However, Cable/Satellites’ comparatively high conversion rate (71%) is contrary to many narratives all but declaring the death of linear TV. Despite a somewhat lowered total cume, Cable/Satellite TV audiences are still watching a good amount of linear TV. If someone states they still watch Cable/Satellite, chances are they are watching Cable/Satellite a lot (hence the high conversion rate). This perhaps reflects a slowing rate of cord cutting overall.

Perhaps most notable on this adjusted conversion list is Podcasting. Podcasting has gone through many iterations in recent years, and at this point essentially suffers from a definitional crisis (video podcasts, anyone?). The most recent industry definition of ‘Podcasting’ seems to incorporate one or more people talking into a mic in a room and it may be filmed, or it may not (this meets the definition of most daytime TV, hence the definitional crisis).

Getting back on track

Media industry insiders consider Podcasting as part of the ‘legacy media’. However, our research shows that it has potentially plateaued. This is potentially due to a combination of reasons (e.g., stabilization of media use post-pandemic, return to a new normal, etc.). 32% of podcast consumers reporting frequent use betrays finite growth of a medium previously touted to dominate audio-based media types. Podcasting has some work to do after a return to earth from skyrocketing consumption rates during the pandemic years. For comparison, in 2024, Podcasting sat at 36% conversion and 58% cume.

Similarly, the State of Media 2025 has some red flags for Radio. As it stands, Radio enjoys relatively high cume but also carries the second lowest conversion among its audience (40%). We at Crowd React Media think that Radio is generally a stable medium. However, radio needs to adapt to meet consumers where they are. Habituated media behaviors among the state of media audience are centered around their phones and Smart TVs. Radio is in danger of being left out entirely if they do not act quickly. The challenge is to position your product that meets consumers where they are. Turning the dial and cycling through presets are not established audience routines in the way they were in 90s, 2000s, and even 2010s. Radio needs something else, because audiences are not really tuning the dial when they hop into their EVs. They are plugging in their smartphones.

This has been Volume 1 of our State of Media: 2025 Blog Series.
I am Sean Bos and it has been a pleasure.
To next time!

The post Conversion Reveals Source Viability appeared first on Crowd React Media.

Live Monday, May 5th

What happens when you stop looking at just who uses each media platform—and start looking at who’s actually converting?

The State of Media 2025 goes live Monday, May 5, and this year’s report digs deeper than ever before.

Now in its second year, this annual snapshot offers a comprehensive look at American media habits—from traditional to digital, audio to video, daily habits to deeper engagement. And in 2025, we’re taking it one step further by introducing conversion as a key lens. It’s a powerful, often-overlooked metric that reveals not just reach—but resonance.

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside:

• One traditional media platform quietly keeps up with it’s digital counterpart in conversion—yes, really.

• Several audio formats that appear stable on the surface are showing subtle signs of decline when compared to 2024.

• We’re seeing a reset of media habits post-pandemic, with some surprising demographic shifts… and some areas showing remarkable stability.

• Plus: data across all major platforms—radio, TV (cable and streaming), podcasts, YouTube, video games, and more.

Want to get a sense of what to expect? Take a look at last year’s report, then mark your calendar.

The State of Media 2025 goes live Monday, May 5. You won’t want to miss what’s changed—and what hasn’t.

The post The State of Media 2025 appeared first on Crowd React Media.

Recent Publications:

Ordered by most recently published.

• • State of TV News 2025
    The inaugural report on the state of TV News. Designed specifically for news stations, this report provides actionable insights and strategies to help broadcasters adapt and succeed in this new landscape.
    Read More
  • State of Sports Media 2024
    The third annual report on the state of sports media across all channels, including radio, tv, digital, social and more.
    Read More

• • State of Media 2024: Video Sales Deck
    A downloadable PowerPoint deck with video findings from our State of Media 2024 report, showcasing broadcast television’s resilience and continued success, and ready to be used in your Sales team’s next sales deck!
    Read More
  • State of Media 2024: Radio Sales Deck
    A downloadable PowerPoint deck with radio data from our State of Media 2024 report, showing the strength of radio, and ready to be used in your Sales team’s next sales deck!
    Read More
  • State of Spanish-language Media 2024: Video Edition
    This whitepaper focuses on Spanish-language video media, including local and national news.
    Read More
  • State of Spanish-language Media 2024: Audio Edition
    This whitepaper focuses on the unique aspects and developments within Spanish-language audio media.
    Read More
  • State of Media 2024
    Our flagship report offers a broad overview of the media industry, highlighting key shifts and emerging trends across various platforms.
    Read More

Coming Soon:

More to be announced shortly!

—

We strive to keep you informed and ahead of the curve with our ongoing research and insights. Bookmark this page and check back regularly for the latest updates.

The post Latest Research appeared first on Crowd React Media.

Our State of TV News 2025 report breaks down key trends shaping the industry, including:

• The continued strength of local news on cable
• The rise of streaming news, with YouTube leading the charge
• How TV stations can adapt to a hybrid media world

Get the full report here: State of TV News 2025

The post The Future of TV News: What Our Latest Research Reveals appeared first on Crowd React Media.

Why This Sales Deck Matters:
General Managers, Program Directors, and Sales teams alike will find this deck packed with valuable data on broadcast television’s role in media consumption today. Whether you’re preparing for a client pitch or refining your sales strategy, these slides provide the insights you need to prove broadcast television’s impact and success.

What You’ll Get:

• Customizable slides designed to elevate your presentations
• Key data from over 500 media consumers
• Compelling statistics to help you make the case for broadcast television in a crowded media landscape

Ready to elevate your presentations? Access the full deck here: Download the Video Sales Deck

Explore the Full State of Media 2024 Report
While this deck is packed with powerful insights, the full State of Media 2024 Report offers even more. Dive deeper into the trends and findings that can further support your sales efforts and understanding of the media landscape.

Let us help you tell broadcast television’s story. Download the deck today and amplify broadcast television’s success in every meeting.

The post Unlock Your Station’s Success with the State of Media 2024 Video Sales Deck appeared first on Crowd React Media.

Listen to the full podcast here.

The post Harker Bos Group Announces Sean Bos’ InFOCUS Podcast Interview on Spanish-Language Video appeared first on Crowd React Media.