Streaming TV and Streaming Radio for Local Businesses

For most of the last fifty years, TV and radio belonged to the biggest local brands: the car dealer in every commercial break, the law firm on the morning drive. Everyone else was priced out by station contracts and metro-wide buys.

That has changed on both sides. In July 2026, streaming was 49.0% of all TV viewing in the US (Nielsen, The Gauge). On the audio side, on-demand listening (streaming music and podcasts) now takes 56% of Americans' audio time, up from a tie in 2023 (Edison Research, Share of Ear). Both can now be bought with a daily budget and aimed at a specific area.

This post covers why a local business should consider running both together, what the research actually shows (and what it does not), and the fine print that decides whether the money is well spent.

Where your customers' attention is now

On the TV. 81% of Americans 12 and older own a smart TV, up from 61% in 2021 (Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2026, with support from SiriusXM Media). YouTube alone was 14.2% of all TV viewing in July 2026, more than any single network group (Nielsen).

In their ears. 81% of Americans 12 and older listened to online audio in the past month and 76% in the past week (The Infinite Dial 2026). That figure includes radio stations streamed online, not only music apps, but it shows how normal streamed listening has become. It is not only young people: monthly online audio listening among Americans 55 and older rose from 52% in 2024 to 70% in 2026.

For hours a day. Americans aged 13 to 34 spend about 4 hours 30 minutes a day with audio, 35 to 54-year-olds about 4 hours, and people 55 and older about 3 hours 17 minutes (Edison Research).

Why run them together

Streaming TV and streaming audio do different jobs, and that is the point.

• Streaming TV shows. The truck in the driveway, the storefront, the finished kitchen, the face of the person who will pick up the phone. It builds recognition.
• Streaming audio repeats. Your name, one offer and how to reach you, at the times people are not watching a screen: at work, on the way there, and around the house. Streaming audio tends to peak in the middle of the day, from about 10am to 3pm, while broadcast radio peaks in the morning drive (Edison Research dayparts, based on 2023 data).

Put simply, the TV spot introduces you and the audio spot keeps your name in their head until they need you. The average one-way commute in the US is 27.2 minutes, and 9.3% of workers travel an hour or more each way (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024).

What the research shows, with the caveats

There is encouraging evidence that the combination works better than either channel alone, but it comes from companies that sell the ads, so read it that way.

• In a 2023 study with Nielsen, SiriusXM Media (which owns Pandora) reported aided recall lifts of 12 points in retail and 9 points in consumer packaged goods when streaming audio was combined with streaming TV (SiriusXM Media). Its summary does not say what the lift was measured against.
• A 2026 Nielsen study done with Katz Media (owned by iHeartMedia) found unaided recall of 37% for audio alone, 37% for streaming TV alone and 65% for people exposed to both (Nielsen). It was a controlled test run through an online panel, with respondents placed into groups that saw or heard the ads, in a single market (Washington, D.C.), for issue-advocacy advertising, among 600 adults aged 35 and older. So it is a signal, not a promise for your business.

Neither study measured calls or sales for a local business. The honest takeaway: two channels telling the same story are more memorable than one, and your own results are what count.

Who actually hears a streaming audio ad

This is the fine print most agencies skip.

• Spotify Premium listeners do not hear music ads. Premium is ad-free for music (Spotify), and 78% of Spotify listening time comes from Premium users (Edison Research). Your ad reaches Spotify's free listeners, which is why audio budgets are usually spread across more than one service.
• Pandora says 87% of its listeners use the free, ad-supported service. That is Pandora's own figure (SiriusXM Media), and it is one reason Pandora is a common part of an audio plan.
• iHeartRadio carries live radio station streams. Streamed radio is growing across apps and devices: 30% of weekly radio listeners now stream at least part of their radio time, up from 19% two years earlier (Edison Research).
• In the car, AM/FM still dominates. Among Americans 13 and older, AM/FM takes 55% of in-car audio time and streaming audio 16%. For people aged 13 to 34 it is 46% and 30% (Edison Research). Streaming audio reaches the drivers who stream. It does not own the commute, and anyone who tells you it does is overselling.
• Many older listeners stream outside the car. Only 27% of people 55 and older who drove or rode in a car last month use online audio in their car, compared with 73% of 18 to 34-year-olds (The Infinite Dial 2026).

Keep the budget inside your service area

The biggest change for local businesses is geography. You no longer have to pay for a whole metro area to be on TV.

• Streaming TV can be targeted by ZIP code on the major platforms: Hulu and Disney+ through Disney's ad platform (Disney Campaign Manager), Roku (Roku Ads Manager) and YouTube TV (Google Ads Help). Ads for housing, credit or jobs are the exception: Roku and Google do not allow ZIP-code targeting for those.
• Very small areas have limits. Google warns that narrower targeting can make inventory "more volatile and restricted" and increase the risk of under-delivery. A handful of ZIP codes usually works; a single block does not.
• Audio covers your wider market. Your streaming audio ad is heard across your market rather than inside a single ZIP code. A practical setup keeps TV tight to the ZIP codes you serve and lets audio cover the market around them.

What a good streaming audio spot sounds like

Audio ads on Spotify run up to 30 seconds, which is about 65 words (Spotify audio ad specs). Pandora runs 10, 15 and 30-second spots (SiriusXM Media ad specs). Both can show a clickable image or banner alongside the ad while it plays.

A spot that works on the ear usually:

1. Says your business name in the first five seconds and again at the end.
2. Makes one offer, not three.
3. Gives one easy action: a short web address or a phone number, said slowly.
4. Sounds like the TV spot, with the same voice, line or music, so the two channels feel like one campaign.

How to tell if it is working

Audio platforms report reach, frequency, clicks and completion rate, meaning the share of ads that were played to the end (Spotify reporting glossary). Those numbers tell you the ads ran. For a local business, the signals that matter are your own:

• More people searching for your business by name.
• More direct calls and website visits from your area.
• New customers saying "I heard you on..." or "I saw you on TV".

Look at those over weeks, not days. Recognition builds with repetition.

Frequently asked questions

Is streaming radio the same as AM/FM radio?

No. Streaming audio plays through apps and smart speakers, such as Spotify, Pandora and iHeartRadio, and ads are bought through those platforms. AM/FM is broadcast over the air and bought from stations. iHeartRadio sits in between: it streams live radio stations, and the audio ads are served in those streams.

Do Spotify Premium listeners hear my ad?

Not in music. Spotify Premium is ad-free for music, so music ads reach Spotify's free listeners. That is one reason audio campaigns usually run across more than one platform.

Can I run TV ads only in my town?

On streaming TV, usually yes. Hulu, Roku and YouTube TV all support ZIP-code targeting, so you can pay for the ZIP codes you serve instead of the whole metro area. The exception is ads for housing, credit or jobs: Roku and Google do not allow ZIP-code targeting for those. Very small areas can also limit how many ads are available to run.

Is it worth running audio if my customers are older?

Often, yes. Monthly online audio listening among Americans 55 and older rose from 52% in 2024 to 70% in 2026, but only 27% of those who drove or rode in a car last month use online audio there, so for many of them streaming happens outside the car.

How much does it cost to start?

With QuickAdVideo, campaigns can start from $50 a day in ad spend. That figure does not include producing the ads: production and management are priced separately, scoped on a call and agreed with you before anything runs.

The bottom line

Streaming TV gives a local business something it could not afford a few years ago: a real TV presence in the ZIP codes it serves. Streaming audio keeps that name in people's ears during the hours they are not watching. Run them with one message, keep the geography tight, and judge the result by your own calls and searches.

If you want to see how this would look for your business, see where we run ads, browse by industry, or book a call and we will make a free sample ad for you.