Libsyn says Comedy genre podcasts did the best during the third quarter. Among shows it hosts, Libysn said podcasts in that category had the most downloads. It was followed by Business, Health & Fitness, Education, and Religion & Spirituality. Libysn VP Rob Walch said on the company’s The Feed podcast that the genre with the fewest number of downloads during third quarter was Government. “It’s always at the bottom,” he said.
Mobile downloads grew last month for podcasts hosted by Libsyn. The company says 86.3% of all its downloads in October went directly to a mobile device. That was up from 85.7% in September. Desktop computer downloads slid a half point from 14.1% in September to 13.5% in October. And downloads to smart speakers and gaming devices held steady at 0.26%.
Walch also reported 62.3% of downloads to Libsyn-hosted shows were in the U.S. during September, down slightly from August. The UK was the next biggest market with a 52% share, followed by Canada (5.2%), Australia (3.5%), Germany (2.6%), Sweden (2.0%), Mexico (1.3%), France (1.3%), India (1.2%), Japan (1.1%) and Brazil (1.0%). It was the first time India made the top country list and it follows a deal struck in July between Libsyn and Gaana, the Indian music streaming service, to distribute Libsyn-hosted podcasts on the Gaana platform.
Among Libsyn-hosted shows, Walch said iOS had 4.6 downloads for each one on an Android device. “iOS still dominates the world of podcast consumption. That has not changed,” he said. Apple Podcasts represented two-thirds of all downloads of Libsyn-hosted shows.