Podcast Consumers Continue to Move Between Audio and Video.

The rise of video podcasting may be changing how people consume their favorite shows, but new research suggests it is not coming at the expense of audio. Instead, podcast consumers are increasingly moving between listening and watching depending on where they are and what they’re doing.

Research from SiriusXM Media and Edison Research finds 90% of monthly podcast consumers listened to an audio-first podcast during the past month, nearly identical to the 89% who consumed a video podcast. And 70% did both. Only 10% exclusively listened to podcasts, while 20% exclusively watched them.

“Video isn’t growing because people have suddenly stopped listening and discovered video. Audio is growing alongside it,” Edison VP Megan Lazovick said during a webinar examining the findings. The study surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. monthly podcast consumers 13 and older during the second quarter.

“People don’t identify as an audio podcast person or a video podcast person,” Lazovick said. “They’re just podcast consumers, and they use whatever format is convenient to them, whatever works for the content or the moment that they’re in at the time.”

The differences become clearer when researchers look at what consumers are doing while consuming podcasts. Audio is selected by 68% of consumers when they’re in the car, 54% while working and 51% while exercising. And 55% choose to listen when they’re on the go, making them three times more likely to listen than actively watch in those situations.

Even the distinction between watching and listening is becoming blurry. The data shows 72% of monthly podcast consumers have played a video podcast in the background or minimized the video during the past month, meaning some consumption technically classified as video effectively becomes an audio experience.

“The words ‘watching’ and ‘listening’ are making the audience behavior sound a lot more binary than it is in reality,” SiriusXM Media VP of Sales Research Melissa Paris said.

Different Formats, Similar Attention

Being able to multitask while listening doesn’t appear to translate into dramatically lower attention. More than three-quarters (77%) of audio listeners say they give a podcast full or mostly full attention vs. 81% of video viewers. Episode completion is similarly close: 71% of audio consumers and 69% of video consumers say they finish an episode almost always or more than half the time.

The audiences themselves also look remarkably similar. The median age is 40 for both groups, while audio consumers are 55% male vs. 54% for video. And the likelihood of recalling advertising is identical, at 75%.

There are some differences depending on the content. Researchers found more immersive or story-driven categories, including true crime, politics and news, skew somewhat toward audio-first consumption. More conversational categories such as comedy, entertainment and sports are somewhat more likely to be actively watched.

Where video is having an impact is by expanding how consumers discover podcasts rather than simply replacing listening. The survey finds 77% of monthly podcast consumers encounter podcast clips on social media — two in three say they have gone on to listen to or watch a full podcast after encountering one.

There is also no longer a clear starting point for new podcast consumers. Four in ten say their first podcast experience was listening to an audio show, while 39% began by actively watching a video podcast. Another 21% first experienced podcasting by playing a video in the background or minimizing it.

“There is really not one dominant front door to podcasting anymore,” Paris said. “People might enter through audio, they might enter through video, or maybe somewhere in between.”

Advertisers Follow Audience

For advertisers, the findings suggest podcast buying should not become another audio-vs.-video decision. Audio has some advertising advantages of its own: 63% of consumers say ads on audio podcasts feel shorter, while 61% say they feel less disruptive. But when consumers were asked which format delivered more relevant advertising, the results were evenly split between audio and video.

“Brands shouldn’t honestly be picking between audio or video. You should be thinking about both,” PMX Marketplace Intelligence SVP Ted A’Zary said. “There are advantages to your brand in one platform or the other, but they’re really net positives for both formats.”

Video gives buyers additional ways to integrate brands into shows as 83% of consumers say they’re more likely to pay attention to video advertising when a product or brand is visible being used by the host or in the background vs. a regular 30-second spot. And 60% say they’re more likely to pay attention to a live, host-read sponsorship, while 57% say the same about a personalized or ad-libbed discussion of a product or service.

Those deeper integrations also highlight an evolving divide in how podcast advertising is bought, and A’Zary sees buyers moving beyond a focus primarily on reach. “Scale has definitely been the thing most people have been chasing in podcasts versus any other metrics,” he said. “But now that the medium is maturing, you’re getting the opportunity to focus much more on content and specific audiences.”