Nielsen Ratings just announced the most listened to radio formats in the first half of 2026. The rankings compiled by Nielsen allow you to take a closer look at your listener data.
Nielsen breaks down ratings by day (Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight), and the listener age groups are 18-34 and 25-54.
So what are people listening to?
According to the information, News/Talk remains at the top overall, with Adult Contemporary (AC) in second place.
AC’s popularity lies in the 18-34 and 25-54 age groups.
Among 25-54 year olds, News/Talk is second only to AC.
Although adult contemporary is popular, Nielsen says ratings are flat compared to last year. Also, although ratings for news and talk programs vary, the number of viewers is decreasing year by year.
The best format to see continued growth among radio listeners is (CC) Contemporary Christian.
According to Nielsen, CC has the highest growth rate of any age group. And that number will remain stable in 2022 and beyond.
Classic hits and modern/alternative rock are generally popular among all age groups. Most of the classic hits are a broad mix of former Top 40 singles from the 1970s to 1990s in pop, soul, and pop-rock.
But the two radio formats that are a hit are classic rock and Spanish regional Mexican. The numbers of these two groups are decreasing.
Classic rock focuses on guitar-driven, blues-based hard rock from the late 1960s to the 1980s.
