🚀 The Rise of Podcasts: Analyzing Current Trends in Audio Consumption

Podcasting has turned a significant amount of the time that Americans spend with media, with one of every five minutes of ad-supported audio time spent with podcasts in the second quarter, with broadcast radio at 69% of share. This is according to an analysis by Cumulus Media Chief Insights Office Pierre Bouvard in the latest blog post.

The key findings:

• According to Google Search trends, Pandora Radio's audience and profile have drastically diminished since its peak in 2008.

• An entirely new study conducted in August 2024 from Advertiser Perceptions says marketers and media agencies need to "take the me out of media." The research found they drastically underestimate AM/FM radio shares, and wildly overestimate Spotify and Pandora audiences.

• According to the report from [Specify Data Source], AM/FM radio has an astonishing 86% in-car share, with 69% overall share and is America's number one ad-supported audio platform.

• The audiences of podcasts continued to increase. Podcasts now represent one out of every five minutes of ad-supported audio in the United States with a 19% share.

• Podcasts rank second with 19% of the ad-supported audience share among registered voters, while AM/FM radio ranks first at 69%.

Zoom In: Advertisers and agencies believe that AM/FM radio's audience share is smaller than combined streaming platforms. Online radio services such as Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio are growing. Advertisers believe AM/FM radio has an audience share of 27%, vs. Pandora/Spotify at 43%. Actual share is 2.6X larger. In an hour of ad-supported audio, podcast listeners spend 11.6 minutes with podcasts, while among 18+, SiriusXM, Spotify, and Pandora have a greater share.

Zoom Out: Putting all the pieces together, Edison Research shows that among those 25-54-year-olds, podcast and ad-supported audio listening continues to rise, with a high level of such listeners tuning in via a stream. This rises with the youngest of this group, with one in three Americans each day listening to podcasts, +3X from 2016.

Sources and Methods: Edison Research's "Share of Ear" study is a deep analysis of how Americans consume audio that surveys 1,000 people in the United States aged 13 and older on a quarterly basis. The results here are based on a one-year rolling average of 4,000 respondents. Edison is the leading provider of AM/FM radio research and creator of the Infinite Dial study widely covered regarding consumer adoption of new media platforms.

Why it matters: Edison Research's "Share of Ear" report shows ad-supported audio dominates daily American life among those aged 25-54 and shows how digital marketing strategies ultimately shape customer behavior. While SiriusXM and Spotify own larger shares of ad-supported audio time, the overall impact of both on consumption is huge. In an hour, listeners in ad-supported audio spend 4.3 minutes on podcasts; 92% of respondents say a return to pre-pandemic levels has been reached.

Our Podcast Producers Insights: We understand the importance of knowing the evolution of habits and trends in listeners as the popularity of podcasts increases. Therefore, the more knowledgeable a podcast creator is about these kinds of trends, the more they can position themselves in reaching and engaging with their target audience in an increasingly competitive audio market.

Full report here 👇

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