New podcast consumption data released

• RAJAR, the UK radio and audio measurement company, have released their MIDAS research for Q4 2018, which contains research about multiplatform use of audio including a large amount of data about podcast use. Among the highlights:

12% of UK adults listen to podcasts weekly. Podcasts are heavily skewed to 25-34 year-olds (21% listen) rather than 55+ (5% do). Two-thirds of listeners identify as male.

Two-thirds of listening is on a mobile phone. Podcasts are mostly listened-to while driving/travelling (30% of total time listening), or working/studying (29%). 90% of listening is done alone.

Only 1% of all podcast listening is done on a smart speaker. 60% of people listen to all/most of the podcasts they download. Two-thirds listen to the whole episode. The peak time for podcasting? 8am; with another at 6pm.

For noting: “Listen again” appears regularly on these graphs as a separate thing, which is catch-up radio from the BBC and some commercial stations, quoted separately here for a few reporting reasons. Catch-up radio can be downloaded for offline use within the BBC Sounds app and other services, and many shows are available in both formats.

Opinion: There are technical differences, but we think there’s no difference in consumer behaviour; and that separation of “listen again” and “podcasting” may cause consumption of UK podcast content to be under-represented.

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• CBS News has published a news poll claiming a significant increase in US audiences listening to podcasts. A third of those polled listen to a podcast at least once a week.

• The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards took place on Friday night. The winners are posted on the official website, and video clips available on Twitter. Podcast of the year went to Slow Burn (Slate/Megaphone) - see the speech. We reported in November that host Leon Neyfakh, and some of his team, have now left Slate; he did not collect the award.

• PodCon ran over the weekend in Seattle WA, USA. We’ll carry reports from the event later this week.

• SquadCast, a service that offers remote interviews for podcasters, has officially launched. It offers separate track recordings with no drift, a progressive uploader, and an interview scheduling function.

• Stitcher has announced new and returning shows, including a new Marvel Wolverine podcast and new show Josie & Jonny Are Having a Baby With You!, a comedy and parenting podcast with Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe.

• Apple have released a set of online video adverts for the new iPad, including how to make a podcast on one. The ad highlights the Anchor app.

• Charlotte Lock, Launch Director of BBC Sounds, is interviewed on the latest episode of the BBC’s Fortunately podcast (4 minutes in), explaining the exclusivity strategy for the podcast. Lots of discussions about how it’s an 'experiment’, and noting that BBC Sounds requires audiences to sign in before listening (and that they get data about listeners as a result). If you’re wondering - registered users tell the BBC their name, gender, age, and postcode, which in the UK is narrow enough to refer to “a group of buildings, a street, part of a street or a single delivery point.” We’d presume it also includes data of every BBC News article that listeners have read online. From the podcast:

“What information do you have on our listeners?” “The data that we look at is really a headline level, you know, we’re a public service, we’ve got a responsibility to serve all audiences and its important that the content that we commission, produce and put on our platform really has got something for all licence-fee payers, and that’s why we look at it. So we do know what the age profile of our audience is, [and] the regions that they listen from.”

• The Australian Podcast Awards is looking for public votes for their Popular Vote category. Voting is free and easy.

  
  Aug 9 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• How do you listen to a podcast? CBS Sunday, a US television show, show people (complete with an awkward joke at the end). Spotted by Steven Goldstein.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 9 2023

• You might have spotted that we don’t list “listicles” any more. One of the reasons why is hit upon by Rebel Base Media’s Jessica Kupferman, who says in an opinion piece today that top 10 lists are harming the podcast industry.

  
  Aug 9 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

Podcasts

Democracy Works returns for a new season. First up: the fundamental question of “What Is Democracy?”, featuring a conversation with writer and filmmaker Astra Taylor, who released a documentary of the same name last year. (Blubrry)

Dave Hill’s Podcasting Incident says “If you like podcasts and/or the Internet in general, you will really like this podcast because it is pretty much the greatest of all-time.” In the latest episode, an interview with comedian and former America’s Next Top Model contestant Sarah Hartshorne. (Libsyn)

Meaningful Conversations with Maria Shriver is the first-ever podcast hosted by Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Maria Shriver. Shriver will use her podcast to explore issues and ideas that she believes we’re all thinking about, but not discussing nearly enough. (Cadence13 / Megaphone)