Nearly half of the UK have listened to a podcast in the past week - new data from Acast

It’s official - podcasting has firmly established itself as a dominant force in advertising, outpacing traditional channels such as radio. New data from Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company and Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, reveals that an impressive 42% of the British public have listened to a podcast in the past week and 21% listen at least once a day - highlighting the medium’s growing influence and reach.

Podcasting has matured into a crucial platform for advertisers seeking to engage with a captive and diverse audience. This surge in podcast popularity reflects changing consumer behaviours, where on-demand content is increasingly preferred for its convenience, variety, and accessibility. Podcasts are a media channel that has seen one of the most substantial increases in consumption in the past six months (43% increase for listening to podcasts, 39% increase for watching podcasts), with listeners citing many reasons such as self-development and mental health as reasons for their increased consumption.

Podcasting’s Unique Appeal to Advertisers

Podcasts offer advertisers a unique environment, combining audio content’s intimate and personal nature with sophisticated targeting capabilities. The data shows that podcast ads are perceived as one of the least intrusive (ranked second least intrusive behind cinema), and the British public trust podcast hosts twice as much as celebrity ambassadors (45% vs 20%).

This combination allows for highly effective and personalised ad placements, resonating more deeply with listeners than traditional, broad-spectrum advertising methods like radio. In fact, 25% of monthly podcast listeners do not listen to the radio.

Multichannel Approach

Video podcasts cannot be ignored. Over half of monthly podcast listeners (51%) have watched a video podcast in the last seven days, and 37% of listeners in the UK actually prefer podcasts that include video. Podcasts’ immersive experience helps form strong listener relationships, making podcast advertising an invaluable tool for brands aiming to increase their reach and impact. Video podcasts allow listeners to enjoy visual engagement and see the hosts’ facial reactions or body language.

Josh Woodhouse, Regional Managing Director, UK & Ireland, notes, “Podcasting has transitioned to a mainstream media channel in an incredibly short time. Our latest findings underscore the importance of podcasting as a popular entertainment medium and a powerful advertising platform. It’s clear that podcasts are not just keeping pace with traditional media but setting new standards for how content and advertising can interact in a digital age. ”

The full 2024 Podcast Listener Landscape report from Acast is available by emailing sales.uk@acast.com

Methodology

Data is from Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics who conducted a study between 16th and 23rd August 2024 to n=2,000 people in the UK, where n=1,003 are Nationally Representative and a further n=993 are monthly podcast listeners