Gen Z Podcast Fans Remain Most Attuned To Audio, Survey Shows.

As many podcasters race to develop a video strategy, a new survey suggests time might be better spent focused on the audio presentation. The podcast hosting company Transistor conducted a survey to determine how Gen Z podcast fans are consuming content, and they found that audio remains the medium of choice for three in four (76%) listeners. Just 6% said they primarily watch podcast videos, with three-times as many survey respondents saying they consume a mix of audio and video episodes.

The results show that young podcast listeners have a lot in common with everyone else when it comes to where they consume podcasts, and that may be impacting whether they lean toward audio or video. Transistor says six in ten (59%) of the Gen Zs surveyed said they most often listen to a podcast while at home on their phone or tablet. Another 12% listened while on public transit and 10% listened while walking or cycling. And 9% listened while in the car. Each of those are tough environments for video.

YouTube says viewers watched over 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices last year. But Transistor says listening on connected TVs in a living room setting is more hype than reality among Gen Z. It reports only 3% of those surveyed said they consumed podcasts most often at home on their TV.

The newly released data does, however, give YouTube reason to smile. It shows 21% of Gen Z podcast listeners use YouTube the most. Transistor says these podcast fans are much more likely to consume video than those who say Spotify is their top pick. More than half (52%) of YouTube app users said they had consumed a video podcast episode.

Overall, Spotify has the biggest reach among the Gen Z podcast users. The survey finds 56% say it is their top choice for listening to a show. And while Spotify has a growing catalog of video, the data shows among these Gen Z listeners, 88% of Spotify app users would rather listen to audio-only, while 12% would switch back and forth between audio and video.

The data also shows that Apple Podcasts continues to have difficulty reaching the newest generation of podcast listeners. Transistor says 10% of the Gen Zs it surveyed use the Apple Podcast app, noting its users tend to be older than users of both Spotify and YouTube.

Transistor also asked Gen Z about their favorite shows, and fictional drama and horror did better than expected. The podcasts Welcome to Night Vale and The Magnus Archives had the most mentions of any podcast among those surveyed. When asked who they thought of as a “popular” podcaster, however, Joe Rogan, Alex Cooper and Theo Von led the list.

Transistor founder Justin Jackson says the results from its survey of Gen Z listeners challenge common assumptions about young listeners’ podcast consumption habits.

“Audio isn’t dead,” Jackson writes in a blog post. “Gen Z podcast fans overwhelmingly prefer audio-only content despite the industry’s pivot to video. This suggests that creators shouldn’t feel pressured to add video unless it enhances their content. This is a great time to start an audio podcast if you’re targeting a younger demographic.” And with 59% primarily listening at home on mobile devices, he says optimizing for mobile listening experiences remains crucial.

Jackson says that the popularity of narrative fiction podcasts among Gen Z listeners highlights an often-overlooked opportunity in the podcast market.

Transistor’s survey collected demographic and listening habit data from over 100 Gen Z podcast listeners aged 13 to 29 in February. While the sample was small, it offers a snapshot into what this generation is thinking about podcasts. See the full results HERE.