Podcasts increases radio listening

By Cliff Dumas

As the pandemic has increased our time binge-watching Netflix, it has also increased our overall media consumption. In fact, as more and more media options are made available, consumers are opting to add them to their daily routines instead of replacing our go-to sources. When it comes to audio, podcast listeners actually listen to more broadcast radio than people who don’t listen to podcasts at all. This is why smart broadcasts have embraced and integrated a podcast strategy into their media landscape (see Pattison Media’s partnership announcement with Everything Podcasts).

The media industry has more than a significant opportunity here. In most industries, it’s common for consumers to embrace new products and services at the expense of existing ones. In the media space, new options are actually encouraging consumers to spend more time with media—and they’re opening complementary engagement channels in the process.

According to the latest Nielsen Total Audience Report, U.S. consumers 18 and older now spend almost 12 hours each day engaging with media, which is up almost one-and-a-half hours from a year ago. When we look at the audio universe, we see tremendous podcast listener growth—and it’s not coming at the expense of other audio options.

Edison Research “Share of Ear” survey

Share of Ear® is an audio listening diary survey that measures all audio respondents listen to during a 24-hour period.

In fact, the second release of Nielsen’s Podcast Listener Buying Power database found that light podcast listeners listen to 10 hours and 13 minutes of radio each week. That’s 43 minutes more than the average American; heavy podcast listeners tune in to radio 22 minutes more. Findings from the database attribute much of the increased podcast engagement to existing listeners who are migrating from light use to heavy use—a strong testament to the content being offered to listeners.

The latest release notes that the number of heavy podcast listeners—those listening every day—grew by more than 3.6 million. Concurrently, the average number of episodes heard per week increased by 10%. But podcast engagement isn’t just growing among heavy users. The total podcast audience is growing at a compound average growth rate of 20%.