For all the focus on video podcasts, the latest Podcast Download survey from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights shows those who only watch podcasts represent just 9% of the weekly podcast audience. That figure has remained stable. Over the five studies in the last two years, an average of 10% of the weekly podcast audience only consume podcasts via “watching.”
The latest data from a MARU/Matchbox survey of 603 weekly podcast consumers from April 19-24 also shows watching and listening to podcasts are equally favored. The survey finds 36% prefer the audio-only experience, while 33% say they like actively watching a podcast. And another 31% indicate they prefer listening to a podcast while the video is minimized or playing in the background. Who is watching? The survey shows podcast newcomers are more likely to prefer actively watching podcast videos while those who began listening to podcasts four years ago or more favor the audio-only experience. And podcast watchers skew younger and more male than those who prefer audio only.
The survey also examined why people opted for the audio version of a show and it finds a wide variety of reasons for that choice, including listening to a podcast while in a vehicle (18%), listening during an activity while they cannot watch a screen (17%), and the fact that it was an audio-only podcast (12%). Also worth noting is six percent complain they listen to podcasts because they don’t like the ads on YouTube.
“YouTube is definitely the discovered platform, but it’s not a walled garden. People will start and discover a podcast on YouTube and then migrate and consume that podcast on other platforms,” said Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard. “That’s what makes podcasting unique in that it is a media that folks can use either listening or watching, or some combination of the two,” he said on a video presenting the findings.
That could be why the survey also turns up what could be an Achilles Heel for podcast videos. Less than half (47%) say their eyes on the screen all or most of the time when ads are played during a video podcast episode. A quarter (24%) say they occasionally glance at the screen when a video ad plays, and another 11% say they don’t watch the commercials at all.
If there is a bright spot in those numbers for podcasters, Cumulus and Signal Hill point out that TV ads are seen even less – with 61% of those ads missed by viewers.
The survey shows that in terms of genre, the survey shows few differences in what is popular – although True Crime is one category that outperforms with audio listeners.
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