Study Shows Audio Still Rules Among Podcast Consumers.

The latest in an ongoing series of studies among podcast consumers shows that audio remains far and away the primary mode of consumption even as video continues to grow, while Spotify and YouTube run neck-and-neck as the top podcast platforms.

According to the study, commissioned by Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights and conducted in October by Quantilope among more than 600 weekly podcast consumers, 92% say they listened to podcasts in the last week, while 8% say they only watched podcasts. Three in four respondents say they listened and watched, with 17% only listening. The findings are consistent with those of the prior seven studies conducted since 2022, with listeners steady at 91% while the “watch only” segment averaging 9%.

While the results of this and two other studies find YouTube is the podcast platform consumers say they use the most, ahead of Spotify, an analysis in Westwood One’s weekly blog shows Spotify just ahead of YouTube in share of daily podcast time spent among persons 18+ — 29%, vs. 28% — according to Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” study for Q3 2025.

What might explain the difference between perception and reality, with consumers saying they spend the most time on YouTube for podcasts? “Given the high amount of time spent overall on YouTube, consumers might overestimate their podcast time spent on the platform,” Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Senior Insights Manager Liz Mayer says. “[Also] a fair amount of YouTube content could be considered a ‘podcast.’ If two people on YouTube have an entertaining discussion show, is that a podcast? [This] could lead the podcast audience to think they are consuming a lot more podcast time on YouTube that actual behavior suggests.”

Whatever the reason, the study shows more podcast time spent with YouTube, as a steadily growing share of consumers say it’s the platform used most for podcast consumption, up from 15% in 2019 to 42% in the current survey. Over the same period, Spotify’s share has stayed steady while Apple Podcasts’ share is down significantly. 

In terms of podcast discovery, YouTube is the undisputed champ, with 45% of weekly consumers who listened to a new podcast in the past six months saying they started listening to it on YouTube, vs. 15% for Spotify and 9% for Apple Podcasts.

As to why podcast consumers continue to watch and listen to their podcasts on YouTube, the survey shows that’s driven by YouTube features such as video, comments and recommendations. “The weekly podcast audience indicates YouTube is their entertainment ‘home base,’” Mayer says. “Thus, they come for the podcasts and stay for everything else.”

Even so, the study also finds that 70% of YouTube’s podcast audience say they would switch platforms from YouTube if a podcast were to become available only on another platform, and more than half (52%) say they already have consumed the same podcasts on YouTube in another place.

Nearly one-third of weekly podcast consumers listen to podcasts somewhere other than YouTube in situations where they “can only listen,” such as being in a vehicle, being on the go, or engaging in an activity where a screen cannot be watched.

The study also finds that the younger the podcast consumer, the more likely they are to prefer listening to audio without any video, and far more likely to listen to a video that’s minimized. Overall, 12% of the sample say the smart TV was the last device they used to consume a podcast, far ahead of those saying they listened via a smart speaker (2%).

Mayer says, “Unsurprisingly, among those who say they prefer to actively watch podcasts, 17% indicate the TV was the device used last to consumer a podcast.”