Edison Research has released its Podcast Consumer Survey Results for 2017 and they indicate that the popularity of listening to podcasts in the USA is trending upwards.
Edison Research surveyed 2,000 Americans aged 12 years and older, with key takeouts including:
- 60 per cent of Americans (168 million) are aware of the term ‘podcasting’, up from 55 per cent in 2016.
- 40 per cent (112 million) have ever listened to a podcast now, up from 36 per cent on the previous year.
- Podcast listeners remain affluent, educated consumers with a slight lean towards male listeners (56 per cent).
- Weekly consumption was reported at 42 million.
- Of those, the average listening time per week is 5 hours 07 minutes.
- They listen to average of 5 podcasts per week.
- Listening on mobile phones and other portable devices capped out at around 69 per cent. This statistic was 70 per cent in 2016, suggesting a plateauing.
- Most podcast listening happens at home – around 51 per cent, followed strongly by in vehicles.
- Podcast consumers are higher users of social media and are more likely to follow companies and brands on social media.
These last statistics are of particular value for brands as the research indicated that monthly podcast consumers use social media more than the US population in general. In fact, 73 per cent of monthly podcast consumers currently use Facebook and 48 per cent use Instagram. This supports our views here at BE Media Production, that successful podcasts have an integrated approach, featuring social media as an important part of their podcasting awareness strategy.
For the complete research, download the Edison Research Podcast-Consumer-2017 Survey or alternatively contact us for information about increasing numbers of those listening to podcasts that you create.
