Podcasting Plots to Retain New Listeners Post-Pandemic

Roughly one-quarter (22 percent) of U.S. adults said they’re listening to podcasts more due to social distancing and stay-at-home habits, according to a Morning Consult survey conducted March 23-26, 2021, a slight uptick compared to 18 percent who said the same when Morning Consult asked in March 2020.

About 1 in 3 Americans (32 percent) said they now listen to podcasts at least once a week, according to the most recent survey. When asked to reflect on their pre-pandemic listening habits, 26 percent said they streamed podcasts at least weekly. 

Those figures are reflective of internal data at leading podcasting companies and, notably, buck seasonal trends which usually see lulls in the summer and winter holiday months.

Podcasting is a “sticky medium,” said Jason Saldanha, chief of business development and content at PRX, a non-profit audio company responsible for distributing titles such as “TED Talks Daily” and “The Moth Radio Hour,” so many executives anticipate that new listeners will stick around.

PRX, which typically sees more than 70 million downloads per month, saw downloads increase by 33 percent from 2019 to 2020 for a total of more than 1 billion downloads, said Chief Marketing Officer Donna Hardwick. In November, that increase was 54 percent, and 29 percent in December.

Wonder Media Network, an independent podcast company that creates educational content surrounding social justice topics, saw downloads remain high in August, typically a low month in terms of downloads industry-wide, said co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Shira Atkins, with many listeners and creators vacationing.

Although podcast companies have more or less adapted to listeners’ new consumption habits, adjusting their content, production and promotion strategies, summer and fall of 2021 will likely bring yet another shift in consumer behavior.

Niche podcasts are one key area for growth. The genre, which highlights interests such as gardening and baking, saw a spike in interest during the pandemic, and companies are betting that this space could be an area for opportunity.

That’s the case for iHeartMedia Inc. which also saw growth in both podcasts about niche topics and across its overall network. It was up to 30 million unique listeners last month alone, a record for the company, said Hetal Patel, iHM’s executive vice president of corporate research and analytics.

The company is gearing up to launch a slate of travel shows as that industry rebounds, for instance, with some fronted by unknown creators living in interesting places and others led by celebrities.

“We want to be there if podcasting moves into more and more niche genres,” said Conal Byrne, chief executive of iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group.