Podcasts growing in 'share of ear' among Americans

During the stay-at-home days of the COVID-19 pandemic, people across all age groups sampled listening to podcasts, and Hollywood stars became involved in generating the downloadable programs. Statistics show that by early 2021, 41% of those surveyed had listened to a podcast in the previous month. Today that figure had settled to 38%, as people return to offices and schools.

These statistics were discussed at the monthly meeting of the National Press Club's Broadcast & Podcast Team as part of a dive into the evolving role of podcasts in America's listening habits, as measured by Edison Research. Edison specializes in exhaustive scrutiny of the metrics of this growing digital media form.

Research into consumer behavior, demographics and monetization of podcasting by Edison was a logical spinoff in 2006 of the company's "share of ear" measurements of AM and FM radio listenership, explained Melissa Kiesche, senior vice president of Edison, appearing via Zoom  At that point the first survey asked, "Are you familiar with the term 'podcast'." At that point 26% responded "yes." That figure is now 79%, while AM and FM listnership is declining. 

A snapshot of the company's research is available here. 

Other findings:

•     The core age group of podcast listeners is 35-54.
•     Gender distributions leans toward men at 53%, but the percentage of women is growing year by year.
•     People discover new podcasts mostly by word of mouth or social media recommendations.
•     Joe Rogan's podcast by far is the most listened to among every age group.

The NPC's podcast, Update-1, is produced by Mike Hempen. Besides listening on Press.org, Update-1 can be found on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, TuneIn and Spotify by searching for "NPC Update-1." 

The Club's Broadcast & Podcast Team meets monthly usually on the first Thursday.  It is open to all members of the NPC and members can join by contacting chairman Mark Hamrick at [email protected]