AM/FM Still Leads the Car. But the Dashboard Is Being Redesigned Around Someone Else's Interface.

Radio holds 54% of in-car listening time. Among drivers with CarPlay or Android Auto, that number is already 47% — and adoption is accelerating.

March 10, 2026

Edison Research's Q4 2025 Share of Ear data confirmed what radio has been saying for years: the car is still its strongest room. AM/FM radio holds the largest share of in-car audio time among Americans 13+, with 53% of all AM/FM listening now happening in vehicles, up 25% from 2015. The numbers are real. The trend is real. The part that does not make it into the industry press releases is what happens when you look only at drivers who use CarPlay or Android Auto. Among that group, radio's in-car share drops from 62% to 47%. And as of 2025, 83% of Americans 18+ who have been in a car in the last month have access to one of those platforms.

That 15-point gap is the most important number in Edison's current data set. It does not mean radio is losing the car. It means radio is winning the car on its own terms, and those terms are changing. CarPlay and Android Auto do not replace the radio. They redesign the dashboard around a different logic: one where every audio source is one tap away, the interface is the same regardless of the car, and the default home screen is controlled by Apple or Google, not the automaker or the broadcaster. Radio is still in that environment. But it is one tile among many, and it has to earn the tap.

The generational split inside this data is where the real decision pressure sits. Among older drivers, AM/FM holds its position largely unchanged even with CarPlay installed. Among drivers under 35, the drop in radio's share is steeper. That is not a surprise. It is a confirmation of a pattern that has been building for a decade. The listeners most comfortable navigating a CarPlay interface are the same ones most likely to default to Spotify or a podcast rather than scan for a local station. Radio's in-car dominance is real and current. Its in-car dominance among the next generation of drivers is a programming and distribution challenge that no ratings book fully captures yet.

The practical response is not complicated, but it requires a decision most station groups have been deferring. Every station needs a presence inside CarPlay and Android Auto that is as frictionless as Spotify. That means a station app that loads fast, remembers preferences, and gives a driver a reason to tap it before they tap something else. WorldDAB's 2025 summit identified this explicitly: radio must actively fight for its dashboard placement, not assume it will be there by default. The car used to be radio's guaranteed room. It still is, for now. The window to make it permanent on the new dashboard is open. It will not stay open indefinitely.

Sources:

• The Car Remains Radio's Castle in Edison's Q4 Share of Ear, Radio Ink, https://radioink.com/2026/03/10/the-car-remains-radios-castle-in-edisons-q4-share-of-ear/

• Edison: In-Car's Share of AM/FM Listening Hit New High in 2025, Inside Audio Marketing, https://www.insideaudiomarketing.com/post/edison-in-car-s-share-of-am-fm-listening-hit-new-high-in-2025

• Radio Still #1 In-Car as Tech Tries to Reshape Dashboard, Radio Ink, https://radioink.com/2025/09/11/radio-still-1-in-car-as-tech-tries-to-reshape-dashboard/

• Radio Must Fight for Its Car Dashboard Placement, Radio World, https://www.radioworld.com/global/radio-must-fight-for-its-car-dashboard-placement