South African audio consumption is up 56% in two years according to the Infinite Dial 2022 South Africa from Edison Research. The report was commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters South Africa (NAB), sponsored by Triton Digital, and produced in association with The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRC). The study was conducted in November and December 2021 and surveyed a representative sample of 1500 adults aged 15+ who live in the eight largest metropolitan cities in South Africa about their listening habits.
Key finding from the report
- Monthly online audio consumption in South Africa has increased 56% over the last two years and the use of online audio has grown from 39% in 2019 to 61% now.
- Monthly podcast listening increased from 10% of the major metropolitan commercial population in 2019 to 26% in the current survey.
- Even as consumption of online audio and podcasts continues to grow, listening to radio remains strong. 69% of the population are weekly radio listeners, consistent with 68% from a prior survey in 2019. Traditional radio ownership is still very high as 94% of the respondents own at least one radio. Radio listening at home has also expanded to non-radio devices as 64% of reported listening to radio at home on a non-radio device – an increase from 44% in the prior survey.
- 90% of the major metro population age 15+ own a smartphone
- 32% of the major metro population age 15+ own a smart speaker
- 80% of the major metro population age 15+ who have driven or ridden in a car in the last month currently use AM/FM radio in-car
- Weekly podcast listeners consume an average of four episodes per week
The full Infinite Dial 2022 South Africa report (62pp) is freely available here.
