73% of Podcast Listeners Would Follow Creators Across Formats, According to New Sounds Profitable Research

Sounds Profitable, the trade association for the podcasting industry, today revealed The Podcast Atlas, a new study that maps how audiences move across audio podcasts, video podcasts, social media, short-form clips, and newsletters within the modern creator economy. The findings, unveiled during a keynote presentation by Sounds Profitable Partner Tom Webster at VidCon, found that 73% of podcast listeners would follow a creator from audio to video, while 71% would follow that creator from long-form content to short-form clips, demonstrating that audience loyalty is tied more closely to creators than to any single platform or format.

Based on a survey of more than 5,000 U.S. consumers, The Podcast Atlas identifies five distinct territories that make up today’s creator ecosystem: audio podcasts, video podcasts, short-form clips, social platforms, and newsletters. According to the results, rather than competing with one another, each serves a unique role in how audiences discover, engage with, and build relationships with creators.

“Audiences don’t think in terms of platforms, they follow creators. ‘The Podcast Atlas’ shows how trust is built, strengthened, and converted across an ecosystem of touchpoints that includes audio, video, social media, clips, and newsletters,” said Tom Webster, Partner at Sounds Profitable

Within that ecosystem, Sounds Profitable’s research found that audio podcasts serve as the trust engine. While industry conversations often focus on reach and video growth, audio audiences reported the highest levels of trust and credibility among all measured platforms. At the same time, audio and video listeners demonstrated nearly identical episode completion rates, challenging assumptions that video is replacing audio.

Video podcasts function as the ecosystem’s engagement and activation layer, deepening creator relationships through visual connection. While trust levels between audio and video are comparable, video audiences were more likely to take post-ad actions such as searching for brands, taking screenshots, writing down promo codes, and making purchases.

Short-form clips act as a primary discovery mechanism, introducing audiences to creators and their content across social platforms. The study found that 84% of clip consumers say podcast clips lead them to become regular listeners at least sometimes, highlighting the important role clips play in audience growth and conversion.

Supporting the entire ecosystem are social platforms and newsletters. Social platforms provide the reach, distribution, and daily engagement that help creators find new audiences, while newsletters create direct, owned relationships that are independent of platform algorithms. Among newsletter subscribers, 87% said podcast newsletters lead them to listen to episodes, underscoring the value of owned channels for audience retention and re-engagement.

The findings suggest that creators and advertisers alike benefit when they view podcasting not as a standalone medium but as part of a broader creator ecosystem.

“Industry conversations often center on audio versus video, but that’s a false choice. The Podcast Atlas demonstrates that the real opportunity isn’t choosing between formats, it’s understanding how each format contributes to a larger audience journey," said Webster.

Webster presented the findings during a keynote session at VidCon on June 26, 2026, offering attendees a first look at the complete framework and its implications for creators, publishers, and advertisers. 

Sounds Profitable will further explore the research during a public webinar on July 1, 2026. You can sign up to that, free, here.