NPR radio ratings collapse as pandemic ends listeners’ commutes Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the public broadcaster lost about a quarter of its radio audience in the second quarter of 2020, compared with a year earlier. Even so, digital audiences

Broadcast ratings for nearly all of NPR’s radio shows took a steep dive in major markets this spring, as the coronavirus pandemic kept many Americans from commuting to work and school. The network’s shows lost roughly a quarter of their audience between the second quarter of 2019 and the same months in 2020.