The popularity of podcasts and audio listening continues to grow in the United States as more people are discovering this convenient form of information and entertainment, perfect for on-the-go.
The number of Americans who have listened to a podcast has increased 14% from the previous year; and 40% from 2 years ago.
Those results are from the latest annual survey of ‘The Infinite Dial”, jointly released from Edison Research and Triton Digital.
So, why do we care about Americans’ media consumption habits here in Australia? Because, the US is often an indicator to what we should expect here in the next 12 months or so.
As Corey Layton, Content and Marketing Manager at Whooshkaa, says about the podcast industry: “Australia is following in [the US market’s] footsteps, which is exciting.”
Sixty-seven million Americans (that’s 24% of the population) have listened to a podcast in the last month; an increase from 57 million (or 21%) from the year before.
Almost two-thirds of podcasts are listened to on a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device. While 52% of podcasts are listened to at home; 18% from a car or truck; 12% at work; and 3% on public transport.
An incredible 85% of podcast consumers listen to a podcast in its entirety (40%) or almost all of it (45%).
The method of podcast listening is changing from downloads to streaming, as 77% report clicking on a podcast and listening immediately.
Of the 350,000 podcasts available on iTunes, the average podcast listener subscribes to 6 or more podcasts.
Smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, are now owned by 7% of Americans over the age of 12, which provides even greater benefit to engage markets with audio content.
Podcast and audio listening in the car has been relatively low because of technical and connectivity issues. This is slowly changing as Bluetooth, smartphone cable connections and new cars enable easier accessibility.
Read more information and download 2017’s The Infinite Dial Survey.
Since originally publishing this article, statistics have been released on the number of Australian podcast listeners.