An increasingly popular way of delivering content is podcasting.
Did you know that more Americans listen to podcasts every week than go to church?
By the end of this year, expectations are that podcasting will be a $1 billion industry.
If you’re interested in embracing a podcast strategy for your business, the following podcasting stats will be handy when it’s time to knuckle down and work on a podcasting plan for your business.
Before you dive in, here’s a quick explanation of what a podcast is.
In essence, a podcast is an audio broadcast you can listen to online.
There is no visual element, making it much easier to consume.
General Podcasting Stats 2024
- At present, there are more than two million active podcasts you can listen to and more than 48 million podcast episodes.
- Just three years ago, there were only a little over 500,000 active podcasts.
- In 2018, 64% of Americans knew what a podcast was, whereas now, 78% are aware of what a podcast is.
- 59% of podcast users spend more time listening to podcasts than they do using social media.
- 69% of listeners say that podcast ads introduced them to new services or products.
- 38% of listeners have gone on to purchase something that was mentioned in a podcast.
- Three out of every four podcast listeners in the US say they tune in to learn new things.
- 32% of Americans listen to podcasts on a monthly basis.
- 90% of US listeners enjoy podcasts at home.
- Seven out of ten listeners give the podcast their undivided attention.
- 59% listen to while doing housework.
- 50% tune in when baking or cooking.
- The record for hours spent listening to podcasts reached 15 billion globally in 2021, compared to 12 billion just two years ago.
- More than one-quarter of listeners prefer podcasts compared to other audio content such as YouTube, AM/FM radio, and Spotify
- 32% of people find new podcasts through word of mouth and online research.
- Podcast listener statistics show that they are much more active on all social media channels. For example, 94% are active on at least one social media channel compared to 81% of the entire population.
- Podcast listenership data indicates that the demographics of podcast listeners are diversifying.
Podcast Statistics by Country
- South Korea leads the world in podcast adoption, as 53% of the population has listened to a podcast in the last month.
US
- 47.9% of podcast listeners live in the United States.
- 7% of US users listen to podcasts every day.
- 8% say they listen weekly.
- The Latino Podcast Listener Report shows a growing audience for Spanish podcasts.
- The number of monthly podcast consumers in the 55+ demographic has increased by 18% from 2020 to 2021.
Canada
- In a recent survey, 28% of Canadian respondents said they had listened to a podcast recently.
- 5% of the total number of podcast listeners are Canadian.
Australia
- 33% of Australians say they have been a podcast listener in the past month.
- Podcast listenership statistics show that 91% of Australians are aware of podcasting.
- Podcast awareness went up by 4% from the previous year.
Italy
- 30% of Italians have listened to a podcast in the last month.
- Half of Italians between 18 and 34 have been podcast consumers in the previous twelve months.
- Half of the Italian podcast listeners prefer music programs.
Podcast Demographics Statistics
- More than 50% of Americans aged between 12 and 34 claim to be monthly podcast listeners.
- The percentage of Americans listening to monthly podcasts increased by 18% from 2020 to 2021.
- One-third of US residents 12+ regularly consume podcast content.
- 57% of podcast listeners in the US are white, 13% are African American, 16% are Hispanic, and 4% are Asian.
- In the US, one-fifth of listeners are over the age of 65.
- Over 66% of podcast listeners have a college degree.
- The average annual household income of listeners is $75,000 or above.
Podcast Listener Behavior Trends and Statistics
- 50% of all US homes claim to be podcast fans.
- In 2019, 51% of the US population had listened to a podcast, whereas now the figure is 55%.
- In the US, more than 16 million people are avid podcast fans.
- Males make up 51% of podcast listeners.
- The age group with the highest percentage of podcast listeners is 35-54 (40%).
- Globally, 49% of podcast listening takes place at home.
- 22% listen to podcasts while driving.
- On average, podcast listeners listened to seven different shows over the last seven days.
- In an Edison survey, 75% of people who don’t listen to podcasts said that the platform wasn’t a good fit for them.
- 79.8% of users claim they listen to while commuting
- 58.9% of users listen in their free time.
- Mobile app podcast listeners are more likely to listen to the end of the podcast than those listening via a web browser
- More than eight out of ten users spend longer than seven hours per week listening to podcasts.
- Around a quarter of listeners spend more than 22 hours every week, or more than three hours per day, enjoying podcasts.
- An average podcast listener will listen to seven shows a week and subscribe to an average of six shows in total
- The most popular time for people to listen to podcasts is between 10 am and 3 pm
- 59% of US listeners prefer both branded podcasts from a favorite company and long-form scripted fiction that tells the story over several episodes.
- More than half of monthly podcast listeners have a full-time jobs.
- 47% of users say they listen to a podcast within 24 hours of downloading it
- 58% of listeners say they listen to between 76% and 100% of downloaded podcasts.
- 21.7% of podcast fans subscribe to more than 70 different podcasts
- Podcast listenership statistics show that 65% listen to the entire episode.
Podcast Producing Statistics
Equipment Podcasters Use
- The top microphone brand is RODE (19%).
- The most popular microphone model is a Blue Yeti from Blue Microphones (17%).
- 35% of podcasters use a dynamic mic, 29% use a condenser mic, and 33% use a USB mic for their audio podcast.
- 36% of podcasters use a pop filter, while 26% use a foam windscreen.
- 74% of podcasters record with headphones on, while the remainder chooses not to.
Software Podcasters Use
- 67% of podcasters use software for recording their shows on their computers, such as Audacity or Audition.
- One of the most popular podcast hosting platforms is Blubrry, and you can also use it for podcast analytics and correcting podcast network errors.
- 48% of podcasters use Audacity to edit their podcasts.
- Adobe Audition is the 2nd most popular podcast editing software.
- All podcast publishers use an RSS feed to bring the original podcast to the audience.
Average Podcast Length, Frequency & Scheduling Statistics
- 38% of podcasts publish an episode on their hosting platform every three to seven days.
- 39% of podcasters publish an episode every eight to fourteen days.
- The average length of a podcast is between 25 and 30 minutes.
- 40% of podcast listeners find new podcasts on directories.
- 18.3% of listeners ask someone they know for recommendations.
- The most popular podcast directory and podcast chart are Apple Podcasts.
- A typical podcast is downloaded around 141 times in the first month.
- The most common podcast publishing frequency is every 8 to 14 days (39%).
Podcasting Genre Statistics
- The most popular podcasting genre in the US is a comedy (22%), followed by news (21%), true crime (18%), and sports (17%).
- In the 30-44 age group, 7% listen to sports podcasts every day, while 12% are weekly sports podcast listeners.
- 6% of males listen to sports podcasts daily, but 0% of women do the same.
- 7% use podcasts as a daily source of news.
- The most popular comedy podcast in 2020 was Spotify’s The Joe Rogan Experience.
- The second most popular podcasts on the Spotify podcast app were Ted Talks Daily and The Daily, both of which are news-related.
Podcast Ad Statistics
- 32% of marketers advertise on podcasts.
- 54% of users are more likely to consider a brand after discovering it during a show.
- The average cost of a podcast ad spot is between $10 and $50.
- You can expect a 14% increase in purchase intent when you advertise in business podcasts.
- If you advertise on a political podcast, you’ll see an increase of 12.8%.
- 63% of marketers prefer podcast hosts to read their ads.
- 35% like the host to read the ads.
- Almost 72% of listeners have heard an ad while listening to a podcast.
- 58% of listeners will skip through podcast ads when given a choice.
- A quarter of people will happily pay for an ad-free podcast subscription service if they’ve got the choice.
Podcast Revenue Statistics
- In 2021, revenue from podcast ads is expected to increase by 35%.
- Estimates are that by the end of 2021, ad revenue will reach $1.1 billion.
- 90% of podcast listeners think that podcast ads are effective.
- Estimates are that US podcast advertising will pass the $2 billion mark in 2024.
- Marketers are forecast to spend $2.74 billion in 2025.
- iHeart media managed to generate 3.68 billion US dollars in 2019.
- Spotify generated 6764 million Euros in 2019.
- Direct response ads are the most successful ad campaign for podcasts, and they bring in more than half of all podcast revenue.
- Brand awareness-boosting ads are the second most popular and enjoy a 42% podcasting revenue share.
- These two ad formats account for 96% of ad revenue for 2019 in the US.
- Podcasters can make as much as $800,000 per episode
Podcast Growth Statistics
- US podcast ad spending is projected to increase by 38.7% year on year.
- The music streaming service Spotify has spent almost $900 million in podcast-related acquisitions.
- 98% of all podcasters are in agreement when it comes to the importance of high-quality podcast content.
- The current number of podcast listeners in the US could increase to 100 million by 2024.
- For the first time since podcasts popped up, more than half of all digital audio listeners now tune in to podcasts every month.
- Among adults, time spent listening to podcasts is projected to increase by 8.1% to more than 44 minutes per day.
The Future of Podcasting Statistics
- The primary medium for podcast consumption is the smartphone, with 54% of listeners using Apple and 43% using Android.
- According to Statista, the top apps and platforms for podcast listening are Spotify (25%) and Apple Podcasts (20%), with Google Podcasts third.
- The podcast industry is currently enjoying more than 20% growth year on year.
- By the end of 2025, forecasts are that there will be more than 144 million monthly podcast listeners.
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FAQ
How many podcasts will there be in 2024?
The podcast industry is currently expecting a 20+% growth in active podcasts.
There are now more than 2 million podcasts, so you do the math!
What are good stats for a podcast?
You can measure the success of your podcast in the number of downloads.
The most successful podcasters boast 3,400 downloads in the first month.
You can expect around 141 downloads for a more typical podcast in the first 30 days.
How many listeners does a podcast get?
The average podcast gets around 27 listeners per episode.
However, the top 1% of podcasts have almost 3,200 per episode, which is something to aim for.
The Joe Rogan Experience, on the other hand, has a podcast audience of upwards of 7 million for some episodes.
How much do podcasters make?
A successful podcaster can expect to make anywhere from $10 per episode to $500,000 per episode.
How many downloads are successful podcasts?
You’re not doing too bad if you’re getting more than 26 downloads for a new podcast episode in its first week of release.
Who is the highest-paid podcaster?
The highest-paid podcaster is Joe Rogan.
He started his podcast with comedian Brian Redban, and they ran the podcast together until 2013.
Two years later, Joe Rogan’s podcast became the world’s most popular.
He made a staggering $30 million in 2019.
In Summary
Over the next few years, more and more people will be listening to podcasts, but it’s not too late for you to start hosting your own.
Marketing through podcasts is very effective, and there’s great potential for reaching your target audience.
After reading the statistics above, you should better understand podcast demographics and have some benchmarks to compare your podcast to.
Take on board the tips, and you’ll be able to capture and maintain a loyal listener base.
We made use of a variety of resources in compiling this list of podcast statistics, including:
Paid Insights LLC
Convince and Convert
Findstack
Riverside
The Podcast Host
Neal Schaffer
Startup Bonsai
Insider Intelligence
Oberlo
NitDit
SEMRush
