Nielsen: Podcasts Hold 20% Share Of Ad-Supported Audio Listening In Q3.

One of every five minutes U.S. adults listened to during the third quarter was to a podcast according to Nielsen, which reports the new high-water mark for on-demand media. The one-point gain from the spring means that podcasting remains the second most listened-to ad-supported audio media, with broadcast radio holding a larger share of listening time.

Nielsen’s The Record, a quarterly report card on how U.S. consumers spend their listening day that’s produced in a partnership with Edison Research, may demonstrate podcasting’s gains in recent years, but digging deeper into the data and the true size of the shift becomes even clearer when examining how each age group is embracing podcasts. Nielsen says among 18- to 34-year-olds, nearly a third (31%) of their time with ad-supported audio is with podcasts, as the gap with broadcast radio (43%) continues to close.

Among adults 25 to 54, Nielsen says one of every four minutes (24%) spent with ad-supported audio goes to podcasts, although the lead held by AM/FM radio remains larger in this segment with more than twice as much time (59%) going to listening to over-the-air radio than podcasts.

Pulling down the overall numbers is the data for adults 35 and older, where 16% of ad-supported listening time goes to podcasts. While that might be smaller than other age groups, the data shows that even among older listeners podcasts are second only to broadcast radio.

Streaming audio services are most similar to podcasts, having their largest share numbers with younger listeners. Nielsen says 18- to 34-year-olds spent twice as much time listening to that option than people 35 and older — 24% versus 12%. It also reports that satellite radio listening trends are most like AM/FM, with its best share numbers among older Americans.

The on-the-go warm weather months brought a slight uptick in the amount of time each day that adults spent with audio during the third quarter. Nielsen says daily audio consumption amounted to 3 hours and 53 minutes of listening across both ad-supported and ad-free platforms like radio, podcasts, streaming music services and satellite radio. That was up three minutes from Q2.

Also working in podcasters’ favor during the third quarter was that ad-supported audio accounted for nearly two-thirds (64%) of all listening. That was steady with the first two quarters of the year. “For advertisers planning for audio marketing campaigns, it is important to consider that 82% of all daily ad-supported audio time goes to radio and podcasts, while only 15% goes to streaming music services,” Nielsen says in the report.