Study: Video Drives Podcasting's Next Growth Phase.

Podcasting continues to set audience records, but Edison Research’s “Podcast Consumer 2026” study suggests the medium’s biggest transformation may be happening much closer to home.

The report finds 58% of Americans age 12 and older now consume a podcast each month, an all-time high that translates to 167 million people. Weekly podcast consumption has climbed to 45% of the population, or 130 million Americans. Yet beyond the reach gains, Edison says the podcast industry is undergoing a more fundamental shift as audiences increasingly move between listening and watching.

“It turns out that the majority of people do both,” Edison VP Megan Lazovick said during a webinar Wednesday unveiling the findings. Among Americans who have ever consumed a podcast, 57% report both listening and watching podcasts. Just 21% consume podcasts exclusively through audio, while only 2% report exclusively watching.

The growing overlap between audio and video consumption appears to be changing where podcasting happens.

“Weekly audiences listen to podcasts at home most often,” Lazovick said. Edison reports two-thirds of weekly podcast consumers now listen most often at home, continuing a steady climb from 61% in 2024 and 64% in 2025.

The data points to YouTube as a major driver of that trend.

“YouTube is the service used most for podcasts in 2026 among weekly consumers,” Lazovick said. Edison found 37% of weekly podcast consumers now select YouTube as the service they use most often for podcasts, up from 31% two years ago. Spotify, which previously led the ranking, has been overtaken as video consumption expands.

“Video podcast consumption is the changing variable here,” Lazovick said. “Audiences are finding video podcasts, and in some cases, new or formerly audio-only podcasts are finding video audiences.”

The shift has become significant enough that Edison now considers it a milestone in the medium’s evolution.

“For the first time, video podcast consumption outpaced audio consumption in Edison Podcast Metrics,” Lazovick said. But she cautioned against focusing too heavily on a narrow lead by one format over another.

“Both types of consumption are virtually the same, and there’s a lot of it,” Lazovick said. “There’s a lot of people who listen to audio only, and there’s a lot of people who watch actively.”

Podcasting’s growing role in the consumer media diet is also reflected in Edison’s Share of Ear data. Americans spend an average of 3 hours and 57 minutes per day with audio. Among people who consumed a podcast during their diary day, that figure jumps to 5 hours and 11 minutes.

“If you are a podcast consumer, you tend to spend more time with audio,” Lazovick said.

Podcasts account for 10% of all audio consumption among Americans age 13 and older. Among daily podcast consumers, however, podcasts represent 36% of total audio listening time. And among ad-supported audio, podcasts make up a slight majority of their listening time.

The study also shows that podcasting’s influence with consumers remains one of its strongest selling points for advertisers. Lazovick said it continues to benefit from unusually strong relationships between audiences and hosts. That loyalty translated into advertising effectiveness. Edison reports 76% of weekly podcast consumers have taken some action after hearing a podcast advertisement, including visiting a website, gathering more information about a product, recommending a product to others or making a purchase.

The research also offers clues about what types of advertising resonate most with podcast audiences. Asked what would make them more likely to pay attention to an ad, listeners ranked humor highest, followed by ads they viewed as honest, transparent, unique or different. More than half said they would be much more likely to pay attention to an advertisement that made them laugh.

While listeners generally approve of AI being used for tasks such as research, brainstorming and social media creation, the report shows support drops sharply when AI begins replacing the human elements of podcasting. Edison found 62% of consumers view AI as at least somewhat of a threat to podcast credibility, while majorities also see it as a threat to creativity and quality.

“The audience values authenticity,” Lazovick said. “People love their podcasts, they love their host, and they love authenticity.”

Download Edison’s The Podcast Consumer 2026 HERE.