A decade ago, the Amazon Echo, the first smart speaker, sparked excitement in the podcasting community as a potential game-changer for the medium. By 2021, smart speakers were in 33% of U.S. households, with 47% of owners citing podcast listening as a purchase motivator, according to the 2022 “Smart Audio Report” by Edison Research and NPR. However, that was the report’s final edition, and smart speakers have since faded from the spotlight.
What Happened to Smart Speakers?
Adoption has stalled according to Signal Hill Insights, with ownership only rising from 33% to 35% of Americans aged 12+ between 2021 and 2025, per Edison’s Infinite Dial. Podcast listening via smart speakers has also dropped significantly, from 31% of weekly podcast consumers in Spring 2021 to 20% in Spring 2025, according to the Cumulus Media/Signal Hill Insights Download survey.
Meanwhile, overall podcast consumption has grown, with 55% of Americans 12+ listening monthly, up 14 points, suggesting smart speakers aren’t driving this increase.
Smart TVs Gaining Ground
The rise of video podcasts is a key factor in podcasting’s growth. The Spring 2025 Download survey found 32% of weekly podcast consumers use smart TVs for podcasts, surpassing laptops and smart speakers and trailing only smartphones.
This aligns with smart TV ownership, which jumped from 70% of TV households in 2021 to 82% in 2025, per Hub Entertainment Research. Platforms like YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, and Spotify on smart TVs facilitate this trend. Notably, 39% of weekly podcast consumers prefer YouTube, and 41% of these “YouTube Primaries” use smart TVs for podcasts, highlighting the shift toward video-driven podcast consumption.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.