Podcasting Today, a report by Nielsen and Edison Research on the global podcast industry, provides audience insights, sentiment and other indicators. We’ve combed through the recent August publication and summarised it below, so that you don’t have to.
The short of it is that podcasts are popular and continuing to grow, listening habits are shifting and podcast advertisements are demonstrating to be effective in engaging audiences and driving brand awareness.
Details & Some Numbers
The US (most data we have is US-based) podcast landscape is rapidly evolving, with a 45% increase in the number of Americans listening to podcasts in the past five years – more than double in the past decade.
Approximately 64% of the US population aged 12 and older (~183 million people) have listened to a podcast – and 53% of those aged 12-54 are monthly podcast listeners.
…if you prefer bullet points in your TL;DR’s
- Approximately 64% of the US population – 183 million people – have listened to a podcast.
- 53% of people aged 12-54 are monthly podcast listeners.
- Weekly US podcast listeners average 9 podcasts per week.
- Heavy podcast listening time (considered 10+ hours) among consumers aged 18-34 increased by two-thirds in the past year.
- Listening while in transit (car or public transportation) has become the most popular location for podcast consumption among consumers aged 18-34 and 35-49.
- Monthly podcast consumers have grown across the board, with Hispanic (+95%) and Asian (+76%) consumers increasing most significantly.
- Top podcast genres remain to be: Comedy, News and Society & Culture – with True Crime and Fiction listenership both having doubled in the past 5 years.
- Podcast advertisements are effective in raising brand awareness and driving actions like seeking more information, making purchases, and recommending products.
If you’d like to read the full report, its available here.