2021 Podcasting Numbers

Apple is changing its podcast phrasing from Subscribe to Follow.  - Tom Webster of Edison Research says 47% of non-podcast listeners think it costs money to subscribe.  It's a barrier to entry.  So follow, like Twitter or other social media, is a better word.  I've said "subscribe for free" in many of my podcasts, but I think follow is better going forward.

If you're watching this on video, I bought a new webcam- the Logitech Brio. It's got multiple angles and zooms, with great definition.  If you want to do video professionally, that's the one to get.  I still think video is better for shorter podcasts, but YouTube can be useful as discovery engine.

On Thursday, Edison Research unveiled its 2021 Infinite Dial Survey, which for my money, is the gold standard in podcasting data. Now the study of US Adults covers everything from smart devices to social media to in-car listening, to even video games, but the podcasting data is what I'm drawn to every year.

Weekly time spent listening to all online audio is now at an all time high, with a jump of one hour in TSL this year to 16 hours, 14 minutes. And Spotify is now the biggest player in online audio. It hasn’t yet beaten Apple in podcasting specifically, but it’s making huge gains overall. 

 Demographics are continuing to diversify – still majority white, but gains in Black and Hispanic Americans have gotten closer to an overall representation of the US Population.

US Weekly podcast listeners listen to an average of 8 episodes per week, across 5.1 different shows.

US population 12+, regarding podcasting compared to a year ago, pre-pandemic:

• 222 million (78%) now familiar with podcasting – up from 75% in 2020
• 162 million (57%) have ever listened to a podcast – up from 55% in 2020
• 116 million (41%) are monthly podcast listeners – up from 37% in 2020
• 80 million (28%)  are weekly podcast listeners  - up from 24% in 2020

Finally, seemingly proving my theory that the iHeartRadio app is well promoted, but not widely used among people who don't actually work in radio:  72% of survey respondents had awareness of the iHeartRadio brand, thanks to its massive push on terrestrial radio - but only 10% had actually used the app in the last month. Womp Womp.

Here is a link to the entire Infinite Dial study.  It’s long, but mostly graphs and a quick skim.

http://www.edisonresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Infinite-Dial-2021.pdf

Other podcasting news this week:

Better analytics coming to Google Podcasts, including like and dislike buttons.

Entercom buys Podcorn for $22.5 million - a platform to connect podcasters with advertisers. They already bought Pineapple Street Studios and Cadence 13. Want to own vertical.

Cuban's fireside in Beta on iOS: https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/5/22315866/mark-cuban-fireside-app-podcast-platform-clubhouse

Twitter "Spaces" rolling out to all in April.

Apple curating podcasts for kids: https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/08/apple-teams-with-common-sense-media-to-curate-podcasts-for-kids/

If you want to know more about podcasting, or if I can help you launch or improve your existing podcast, find me at www.jagindetroit.com or send me an email: [e-mail]

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