Social Media Platforms Play Vital Podcast Role

Earlier this month, Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights released the Podcast Download – Spring 2023 Report, the tenth edition of the series. Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights retained MARU/Matchbox to conduct an in-depth study of 608 weekly podcast consumers in April 2023. The Spring 2023 Report highlights trends from prior studies and examines topics such as platform preference, content trends, perceptions of brand safety and content appropriateness, and more. 

This week’s Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® blog focuses on how Facebook and other social media platforms play in the world of podcasts.

• Facebook is the fourth-most-used place for accessing podcasts among weekly podcast consumers. Looking at the top-ten podcast platforms being most used by podcast consumers, Facebook is tied with Google Podcasts for the fourth-highest spot (5%). The proportion of those who say they use Facebook the most for podcasts is even greater among Podcast Newcomers (9%), those who began listening in the past year, and 18-34s (8%).
• YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are all in the top-ten platforms podcast consumers frequently use to access podcasts. Regardless of age or tenure with podcasts, YouTube is the top place frequently used for accessing podcasts. Facebook and Twitter also appear in the top-ten frequently used podcast platforms, again with spikes among Podcast Newcomers and 18-34s.
• Podcast consumers connect with their favorite hosts on social platforms. Half of weekly podcast consumers follow their favorite podcast hosts on one of the social platforms.
• Social platforms offer podcast consumers a chance to participate in podcast conversation, recommendations, and comments. 13% of weekly podcast consumers like YouTube’s recommendation feature. 13% of weekly podcast consumers like the comments and community.
• Podcast consumers want to connect: 27% of weekly podcast consumers would pay for a subscription option to a podcast for live chats with the hosts and 19% would pay for a Q&A or Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit with a host.