Power Stats - These Numbers Tell Stories

From time to time, we look at stats about podcasting, smart speakers and media that tell stories about our time and where things are headed.

126 million

That’s how many people use Twitter on a daily basis. Roughly 40% of Twitter’s monthly active users are on the app daily. Overall use of Twitter is down, however, daily use is up. While far from the largest of the social media ( Facebook’s daily use is 1.5 billion), its impact on the cultural news cycle is more relevant today. (Recode)

One fifth

Just under one-fifth of all online listening to NPR member stations’ live streams now comes from smart speakers. Streaming is still a small subset of overall listening to radio, but radio has had an in-home listening problem for years, now aided by smart speakers in the home. (Nic Newman/Medium)

14 Million

The increase in weekly podcast listeners in just one year (from 2018). (Edison/Triton)

78%

By far, word-of-mouth is the main driver for podcast discovery. Offline (friends, co-workers, etc.) leads at 40%, followed closely by online (including all social media) at 38%. While promotion on iTunes and Apple’s app, is coveted by podcasters (and important), this survey shows its influence (17%) is far less than either offline or online word of mouth. (Jacobs Media Techsurvey)

47%

According to Deloitte’s 2019 Digital Media Trends Survey, nearly half of Americans (47%) have video “Subscription Fatigue.” They express frustration in navigating the shows they want and significantly, the number of subscriptions they have. And now Apple joins the fray. This is worth focusing on as the issue of podcast subscriptions has moved to the forefront lately. (Deloitte)

3

The average number of streaming services Americans subscribe to (Deloitte)

40%

That’s how much of NY Times revenue now comes from digital. Is 2020 the tipping point to digital? The NY Times has 4.3 digital and print customers now and aiming for 10 million. (Nieman Lab)

55%

Estimated percent of voice-enabled cars in 2019. (Statista)

Down 27%

Younger viewers continue to abandon ad-supported TV for streaming. In two years, the big 4 TV networks have seen 27% of their 18-49 audience disappear. That includes Nielsen’s C3 measurement which factors in the viewing of shows via video and other devices. As Ad Age said, it “seems bleak and foreboding.” (Ad Age)

About Half

Almost half of smart speaker owners either don’t use or seek third-party voice apps (skills) on their smart speakers according to the Voicebot Smart Speaker Consumer Adoption Report. Discovery of third party apps is a challenge for developers, compounded by the manual “enable” process on Alex devices. Asked how people discover voice apps, 49.7% said they don’t. Most who do, discover the apps via friends (27%). The “killer app” on smart speakers remains elusive. Awareness of third-party voice apps will increase through media and social. In these early days, people ask questions, listen to streaming services, check the weather and set alarms - all native options. I recommend the shopping list. A big one in our house. (Voicebot.AI)