Edison Research Reveals Habits Of Podcast Consumers

Edison Research has announced the release of The Podcast Consumer 2019, the latest in an annual series of closer looks at the audience for podcasting in America.

This report comprises new research from The Infinite Dial 2019 from Edison and Triton Digital, as well as previously unreleased data from Edison’s Share of Ear research, a syndicated product that has tracked all forms of online and offline listening since 2014.

The principal findings include the following:

• The audience for podcasting grew significantly in the past year. Today, 51% of Americans 12+ have ever listened to a podcast, with 32% having listened in the past month, and 22% in the past week.
• In addition, podcasting’s Share of Ear has more than doubled in five years, increasing 122% since 2014.
• Although all key demographics grew, much of the increase in podcasting has come from Americans age 12-24.
• Forty-one percent of monthly podcast listeners say they are listening to more podcasts today compared to one year ago, with 13% saying they are listening to less.
• Streaming services are playing a role in the growth of podcasting, with 43% of monthly podcast listeners say they have listened to a podcast on Spotify, and 35% on Pandora.
• Music is the number one topic in terms of interest from podcast consumers.
• Finally, 54% of podcast consumers say that they are more likely to consider the brands they hear advertised on podcasts, compared to 7% who say they are less likely.

“Thanks to our partners at Triton Digital, this year we were able to significantly expand the podcasting coverage in our Infinite Dial series,” noted Edison SVP Tom Webster. “We are now able to explore in greater detail the consumption patterns and perceptions of the audience for what has become an extremely important medium.”



The results of this survey were first revealed in a webinar on April 11th, 2019.