‘Alexa? Drive Google Home.’

• Jacobs Media Strategies and jācapps, along with partner Sonic Ai, revealed details from a new national online study that showed that 20% of respondents aged 13 and older with Internet access plan to purchase a voice-controlled smart speaker (Amazon Echo, Google Home, etc.) during this holiday season. Notably, more than one in six online households currently own at least one smart speaker, with 40% of this group already owns two or more of the devices, while 61% of smart speaker owners plan to purchase at least one more device during this gift-buying cycle. The study also shows that one in ten online households owns an Alexa-enabled Amazon smart speaker; 69% of those folks have at least one Alexa “skill” enabled, while 45% have two or more Alexa “skills” enabled.

This study was designed by Jason Hollins, Jacobs Media’s Research Director, who said, “New technologies such as the proliferation of smart speaker devices undoubtedly bring challenges to the AM/FM landscape, but with that comes vast opportunities for radio as well as audio consumers alike.” Bob Kernen, COO of jācapps, notes, “With Black Friday and Cyber Monday now in the rearview mirror, both Amazon and Google continue to compete heavily to get as many of their smart speakers, now at their lowest price points ever, into as large a number of households as possible. This data strongly suggests smart speaker ownership will take off in the coming weeks.”

Steve Goldstein, co-founder of Sonic Ai, remarked, “Smart speakers are clearly the must-have gadget for the holidays. Like anything else, habits will form quickly which is the remarkable opportunity for broadcasters and podcasters. They need a smart audio strategy for smart speakers.” To download summary slides, visit jacobsmedia.com.