Signal Hill Study Reveals Massive Growth in Canadian Podcast Market: Young, Affluent Audience Drives Expansion

The podcast industry has boomed in Canada, adding over 5.1 million new monthly listeners since the pre-pandemic era, a population bigger than all of Norway's adults. Growth is changing the face of media and engaging a responsive, educated, and affluent audience with content and advertising.

Matt Hird, Senior Research Director at Signal Hill Insights, found, according to the Canadian Podcast Listener study, which is the longest-running comprehensive podcast research initiative tracking since 2017, that monthly podcast listening in Canada has increased from 26% to 39% of adults. Such a shift in listening and demographic reach gives much to understand about the ever-evolving landscape of podcasts.

The Key Points:

• Monthly podcast listening in Canada has increased by 13 percentage points, from 26% to 39%, over five years as documented by Signal Hill Insights.

• 65% of Canadian podcast listeners are predominantly younger, with a higher representation in the 18-34 age group.

• Listeners have higher household incomes - 14% above average for $100k+ - and education levels, 26% higher for university graduates.

• Podcast advertising demonstrates 25% higher engagement and 30% lower skip rates compared to traditional media channels.

• Four of Canada's top 10 podcasts originated as independent productions, demonstrating the medium's accessibility

Highlights: This represents unparalleled growth in Canadian podcast listenership, fueled by both rising adoption rates and a growing population. According to an analysis by Hird via Signal Hill Insights, listeners are proving to be a premium advertising audience with higher-than-average levels of education and income compared to other Canadians.

The Big Picture: The impact is transformational for the podcast industry. Such growth will offer podcasters greater access to larger and more engaged audiences, with increased monetization opportunities. Signal Hill Insights' research also finds that producers are seeing increased investment potential as advertisers recognize the value of podcast audiences. In all, the industry has gained from some form of a positive feedback loop: the more listeners, the more advertisers; the more advertisers, the more investment in creating content; and the more listeners again.

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