Pew Research Center has released two new analyses as a part of our continued research on podcasting and its role in the news and information landscape in the U.S. The first explores the key characteristics of top-ranked podcasts, finding that true crime is the most common topic and that a relatively small share of podcasts are focused on the news. The second analysis, which is the inaugural update to our biennial series on the state of the news media, shows small signs of decline in terrestrial radio listenership amid recent growth in podcast and online audio listening.
For the analysis of top podcasts, Pew examined a combined list of 451 top-ranked podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify from April 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2022 (chart data provided by Podchaser, Inc.), looking at characteristics like topics, funding and formatting. The second analysis, the fact sheet on the state of the news media, provides updates to key audience and economic indicators for the podcasting and audio sectors.
These are being released as part of a major study on podcasts, which includes a previously published survey of 5,132 U.S. adults exploring podcast listening habits, a deep dive on Black podcast listeners, and a look at the long, diverse list of podcasts people say they listen to most.
"Americans have a strong appetite for podcasts, which offer a lot of variety. Top-ranked podcasts focus on a range of topics and adults in the U.S. listen to a long, diverse list of shows from both independent podcasters and those tied to larger organizations. While news does not dominate this environment, 15% of top-ranked podcasts are focused on news and 18% are tied to news organizations. Most listeners also say they have encountered news on podcasts, and many say they have heard unique stories that they wouldn’t have heard about elsewhere,” said Director of News and Information Research Katerina Eva Matsa.
Among the key findings from both analyses:
- About a quarter (24%) of top podcasts are about true crime. Other common topics include politics and government (10%), entertainment (9%), and self-help and relationships (8%). This reflects the interests of U.S. podcast users who, according to the survey, mainly listen to entertainment (46%), politics (41%) and true crime (34%). Black podcast listeners, specifically, turn to podcasts on self-help and relationships more (57%) than Hispanic (40%) and White (25%) listeners.
- About half (51%) of top-ranked podcasts are affiliated with organizations like Wondery and iHeart Radio. Meanwhile, 31% of podcasts are independent and 18% are affiliated with a news organization.
- Almost half (47%) of top podcasts seek financial support from listeners. Roughly three-in-ten invite their audience to buy a paid subscription to their podcast (31%) or sell merchandise (30%). The survey found 13% of listeners have paid for a subscription to a podcast, and 12% have bought a podcast’s merchandise.
- Just under one-in-five top-ranked podcasts focus on news. These podcasts largely cover current events in politics (49% of news-focused podcasts) and sports (29%). The previously published survey found that (64%) of podcast listeners say they listen to podcasts to stay up to date about current events. There could be several reasons for this difference, including that many podcasts that do not primarily focus on the news occasionally discuss news-related topics.
- About half of top-ranked podcasts (51%) release some kind of video that accompanies their episodes. Podcasts originated as an audio-only form of media, but in recent years many podcasts have experimented with producing a video component, which may engage audiences in a different way. Many of these videos show the podcast being recorded, and they are almost always made available on YouTube.
- The majority of podcasts have a website (73%), feature a single host (58%), and averaged less than an hour (60%) in length in 2022. When it comes to format, 38% feature deep reporting or an in-depth explanation of a topic, roughly a quarter (23%) are interview shows, and 16% are based on commentary.
- The audio sector is dominated by terrestrial radio, with some signs of change over time. In the update to economic and listener data, terrestrial radio listening shows signs of decline, though listenership is still high. Weekly radio listenership among Americans ages 12 and older is at 82% in 2022, down from 89% in 2019. Podcast and online audio listening, meanwhile, have seen increases in the last decade. Likewise, revenue for news/talk stations and all-news stations has been fairly stable for the past two years, but is still less than pre-2020 levels.
Read the full analyses: A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S.
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