Nielsen Report Looks At Work-At-Home Media Habits, Attitudes

Work-At-Home Report

NIELSEN has issued a "Work From Home" edition of its Total Audience Report, tracking media habits as people work away from their offices during the pandemic. And with 66% of respondents saying they started to work from home since the COVID-19 outbreak, listening to music, whether from AM/FM radio or via streaming services, is the leading medium during work hours.

The survey showed 40% of respondents saying they listen to music every day, and 35% saying they tune in at least once a week, ahead of watching TV during breaks (33% every day, 32% at least once a week) and social media (31% every day, 33% at least once a week). Listening to spoken-word content -- radio news, talk shows, podcasts -- trailed all but watching TV with no sound, with 44% of those listeners saying they listen to news/current events podcasts, 39% to all-news or News-Talk radio, 33% listening for news updates on music radio, and 28% listening to public radio.

As for time spent listening, comparing first quarters from the last three years, radio has continued to decline, from 1:46 in 2018 to 1:39 in 2020, with the 18-34 demographic down to 1:16 and listening down slightly in all demographics. Radio's total reach has declined by 1% in the past year to 91%. Meanwhile, streaming audio on smartphones jumped from 50% reach in 2019 to 64% in 2020; streaming audio on tablets rose from 20% to 24%; and satellite radio was flat at 16% reach. Smart speakers (28% to 33%) and voice assistants (36% to 44%) also showed growth in reach.

The study also offers insight on how the respondents feel about working from home, with 72% feeling they are more productive or as productive at home as they were at the office, lower than the sentiment among work-at-homes before the pandemic (89%). And 52% said they would like the alternative to work at home occasionally once the pandemic is over, with 25% wanting to exclusively work from home and 20% wanting to be back at the office.

Read more from the study here.

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