In the United States, among 13-to-34-year-olds, the phone has passed the radio receiver in in-car audio time: 46% to 43%, according to Edison Research at SSRS. The obvious headline is "radio lost the car." I think it misses the point. The number measures which device is playing, and a good share of what plays on the phone is still radio.
What Edison measured
The data comes from Share of Ear®, the Edison Research at SSRS study of what Americans listen to through the day. The analysis ran in the September 23, 2026 Weekly Insights: among 13-to-34-year-olds, 46% of daily in-car audio time is on a mobile device and 43% on a radio receiver. In the text's own words, what was a 47-point lead for the receiver is now a three-point lead for the other side.
Edison itself adds the caveat the headlines cut: part of the listening on phones is streams of radio stations, and the number looks at the device, not the platform behind the content.
Ten years to flip
RBR reproduces the series from the same study: in 2015, radio had 66% of in-car time and the phone 19%. In 2018, radio fell to 58%. In 2021, it was 46% to 38%. The lines crossed in 2025, when the phone moved ahead 44% to 43%.
It is a long, steady curve. Not a one-quarter scare.
Two numbers that seem to clash and are the same
In another Edison analysis, for the same 13-to-34 audience, the split of in-car time with advertising came out like this: AM/FM at 70%, podcasts at 11%, music streaming at 10%, YouTube at 7% and SiriusXM at 2%. This audience spends a little under an hour a day with in-car audio, and 63% of that time is on ad-supported platforms.
At first glance, 70% looks like it contradicts 43%. It doesn't, because the bases differ. The 70% is a share of ad-supported time. The 43% is a share of total time. Do the math and 70% of 63% is about 44% of the total, essentially the receiver's 43%. It is one fact seen from two sides: radio is still the biggest ad-supported audio platform in the car, and its share of total time has shrunk next to the phone.
That is why I distrust both opposing stories. "Radio is dead in the car" doesn't square with 70% of ad-supported time. "Radio still dominates" ignores that the 47-point lead disappeared in ten years.
What really changed
The way in changed. The dashboard button used to be a shortcut the car offered every driver: start the car, the dial was right there. Now the person picks what plays on the phone, and radio competes with the last playlist, the podcast of the day, the video they left running. A station that depended on being the car's default loses that privilege.
There is a counterweight in the iHeartMedia data cited by RBR: in the company's own Gen Z research, 84% say they turn on the radio when riding with others, and 85% feel less judged playing radio in a group than picking a personal playlist. Read it with care, since it is research from a station owner. Even so, it points to something plausible: in a car with more people, choosing alone is a problem, and radio solves it.
What this asks of a station
- Measure online listening. If your report only counts people tuning in over the air, you can't see the part of the audience that already changed devices without leaving your station.
- Make sure the stream works in the car. A driver's 4G comes and goes. A lower, steady bitrate in AAC holds up on the road better than a heavy one that stalls in the first tunnel.
- Be easy to find by name. People choosing on a phone search by name. Your station's page and the name in the app have to match the dial.
If you want to put a station online with a public page and a web player, take a look at AppRadio.