It is not just reach that is growing for podcasters. So is the amount of time Americans are spending with the medium. Edison Research’s latest Share of Ear report finds that podcast listening has hit a new record high as nine percent of all the time that Americans age 13 and older spend with audio goes to listening to podcasting.
At nine percent, podcast listening may seem small. But Edison Director of Research Gabriel Soto says when music listening is removed from the mix and podcasting is only compared to other spoken word content such as news and talk radio and audiobooks, its share is much larger. By that measure, Edison’s latest Share of Ear data reveals an all-time high 31% of all spoken word audio listening going to podcasts. That compares to a four percent share in 2014.
The quarterly Share of Ear reports are based on a rolling four-quarter national diary-based survey of 4,000 Americans aged 13 and older. Participants keep a detailed daily diary of audio usage, recording their listening throughout the day in 15-minute increments. The diary asks not only what platform they used, but the content consumed, and where they were located. Edison has conducted Share of Ear studies since 2014.
Podcasting’s growing share comes on the heels of Edison’s 2023 Infinite Dial report that showed after a dip last year, there has been a rebound in U.S. weekly podcast listeners. Edison estimates a record-high 89 million Americans are listening to podcasts weekly.
Comments