Do you remember 1998? It was the year of James Cameron’s Titanic, Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time, and Michael Jordan’s final championship season as a Chicago Bull. For Edison Research, it was the year of our brand-new nationwide survey of digital media consumption whose name “The Infinite Dial” proved to be more appropriate and prophetic than we knew.
The Infinite Dial® was created by Edison Research and was originally referred to as an “Internet Listening Study,” tracking emerging digital habits. The Infinite Dial is now the longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior in America. Over its 25-year history, it has become the survey of record for a number of important media channels, including streaming audio, podcasting, and social media, and is relied upon by its audience of content producers, media companies, agencies, and the financial community.
Join us this Thursday at 2pm ET for the 25th Anniversary online presentation of The Infinite Dial® from Edison Research, with support from Amazon Music, Wondery, and ART19. Learn how U.S. digital media habits have changed as we cover trends that span a quarter of a century. Findings will be presented by Edison Research Vice President Megan Lazovick and Edison Research President Larry Rosin. Take a walk back through time with us here as we highlight some milestones first recorded by The Infinite Dial®:
1998: 6% of Americans have ever listened to ‘internet radio’
1999: More than half the U.S. population has a computer in their home
2001: 53% of Americans have Internet access at home
2002: Cell phone ownership exceeds 50%
2006: Podcasting debuts; 22% of Americans are familiar with the term
2008: The iPhone is first measured, with 2% of the population owning one
2011: Facebook is used by over half the population (51%)
2013: Smartphone ownership exceeds 50%
2017: Smart Speaker tracking introduced with 7% of Americans 12+ owning one
2019: Over half the population say they have ever listened to a podcast
2021: 33% of Americans 12+ own a smart speaker
2023: Promises updates on these and many other measures
