Podcast Listening Doubles and 6 More Things
Podcast listening has doubled in four years from 2% to 4% of all audio listening. That may not sound like a lot, but directionally it is significant. Edison Research's Tom Webster presented the latest Edison/Triton data "Podcast Consumer 2018." Lets dig in on a few key points:
One out of every four minutes of all audio time now occurs on the Smartphone
Among the most important trends to watch is audio listening on the Smartphone. Almost one out of every four minutes of all audio time now occurs on the smartphone. This number transcends podcast listening. It is a 30,000 foot view of where audio is being consumed and is up from 20% to 23% in two years. In round numbers, rising from 1 out of 5 minutes to 1 out of 4. That has significant implications for the growth of podcasting, and a somewhat ominous forecast for radio which has a lower profile on smartphones.
And they listen to different audio sources
This graph shows how different audio consumption is among the fast growing segment listening to audio on Smartphones. Podcasts are third behind streaming audio and owned music. Directionally, that's huge.
Podcast listeners are all in on podcasts
How do podcast listeners spend their audio time? 1/3 of their time is spent listening to podcasts. It dominates their audio listening.
For podcast listeners, it's what they do on Smartphones
Drilling down just to smartphones, podcast listeners spend most of their audio time listening to podcasts (55%). Previously released data shows them listening to 7 podcasts per week.
Smart Speakers are exploding
This shows the rapid ascension of Smart Speakers with almost 2 of every 10 Americans having one, and that number jumps up sharply among current podcast listeners showing a high potential source for podcast listening.
Only 24% of podcast listeners use smart speakers for podcasts
Smart Speakers are a great growth platform for podcast listening. However, only 25% of podcast listeners have adopted smart speakers to listen. Right now, it is not an easy experience but the opportunity is easier consumer navigation - just say the name - as more robust skills become available with fast forwarding, seeking older show episodes, etc.
As always, the study is a trove of stories and great directional signs for podcasting. Watch the Smartphone data, that's the new audio entertainment hub and will become increasingly important as car connectivity rises.
See the slide-deck and replay of the webinar here.
A good recap of the webinar from RAIN.
