🚀 Podcasting Revolution: Why More and More Americans are Tuning in Every Month

Sounds Profitable, the podcast industry trade organisation, today released its largest study, The Podcast Landscape 2024, measuring podcast consumption in the U.S. and monitoring platforms, discovery, and perceptions of the medium in an annual benchmark series.

The Study: The Podcast Landscape study surveyed more than 5,000 people aged 18 and above, making it Sounds Profitable's largest undertaking. The resultant research gives the industry its most reliable audience estimates and directional data; thus, it is the largest publicly available study on podcast consumption in the U.S.

The Highlights:

• Podcasts now reach 53% of American adults aged 18 and above every month, the first time that the medium has reached a majority in monthly consumption in the U.S. 37% of total respondents reported consuming a podcast in the last week.

• The medium continues to index highly with 18-54s and multicultural audiences. Plus, The Podcast Landscape is the first report to provide reliable estimates of Asian-American podcast consumption at 62% monthly and the LGBTQ+ audience at 57% monthly consumption.

• The largest growth areas for the medium are from women and those 55 years of age and over. Although the age make-up of podcasting has grown a little older than it was in 2023, 58% of non-consumers are 55+.

• Podcasting is still creating popular new content. While Joe Rogan is still at the top of any podcast chart, there are five new entrants inside this year's Top 20 Favourite Podcasts.

• Some of those new favorites have been driven by YouTube podcast consumption, and today YouTube is named as a source for podcast discovery by 52% of podcast consumers - second only to recommendations at 56%.  While some podcast networks still resist the trend, podcasting is increasingly serving both audio-first and video-first consumers.

What the experts says:

Tom Webster, Partner at Sounds Profitable, noted that "podcasting has changed, with some consumers being audio-first and others video-first, and we are proud to have put forth a study of this scope that appropriately sizes the market."

National Public Media's President and CEO Gina Garubbo says they are grateful for Sounds Profitable research on podcasting to show not only the growth but that mainstream status. NPR News Now and Up First rank among the most-listened-to podcasts in the United States and reflect consumers' desire to understand their world. Growing audiences descend on NPR's Book of the Day and Short Wave, too, reflecting the diverse appetites of its audience.

Tom de Napoli, Vice President of Revenue Strategy for American Public Media, praised Sounds Profitable's latest report as the biggest public study on podcast consumption to date, offering critical insight into how public media organizations like APM keep themselves informed about audience behavior.

Thanks to the sponsors: This study was conducted in partnership with Signal Hill Insights and made possible through the support of Wondery, American Public Media, ESPN Podcasts, BetterHelp, SiriusXM Podcast Network, LibsynAds, Paramount, and NPR.

Why it matters: The increase in podcast popularity within the upper age brackets signifies a broadening base of listenership and, therefore, perhaps the ground for sustainable growth in the medium. The rise in new favorite podcasts influenced by platforms like YouTube shows how the landscape of podcast consumption is changing and the importance of varied sources of discovery.

Our Podwires Insights: With this in mind, it's also relevant to the podcast producers themselves to consider the different kinds of platforms on which people find content and adjust accordingly in their marketing strategies. This employment of platforms like YouTube for podcast promotion allows reaching a far larger number than otherwise and leveraging the increasing interest in podcasts across demographics.

Full report Below : 👇

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