Americans are spending longer with podcasts

• Exclusive: New data released by Edison Research at SSRS today shows that Americans are spending almost four times longer with podcasts than they were ten years ago. This year, Americans are now spending 812 million hours each week consuming podcasts. That’s a 5% increase in the total time spent with podcasting in just twelve months, and shows that podcasting has grown almost four times bigger for Americans over the last decade. It’s the second year that we’ve worked with Edison Research to discover the real size of podcasting - and how it continues to grow.

  • Gabriel Soto, Senior Director of Research at Edison Research at SSRS, told us: “Total podcast consumption time, a measure that accounts for both consumer growth and the increase in time we commit to podcasts, showcases to advertisers just how massive the medium has become. Ten years ago, I remember having to teach college friends how to listen to stand-up comedy podcasts on their journeys to class. Today, I study how that medium evolved into a mainstream cultural staple, a staple in the marketing playbook that advertisers cannot ignore.”
  • The company recently released The Podcast Consumer 2026, which is now available as a free download.

• Netflix has signed another three shows from iHeartMedia. Shows include The Martha Stewart Podcast and Sibling Rivalry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson, as well as a new show from Lele Pons.

• The Locked On Podcast Network celebrates its tenth anniversary today. In an interview with the Podnews Weekly Review podcast, founder David Locke highlighted the network’s 275 different shows. “We have a model and a structure, which I think allows to foster individualism inside of that model and allows those hosts to be great.” He adds that the success of the network is founded on relationships. “The premise of Locked On is literally a relationship between the listener and the host about their team.” You can read highlights from the interview in our sister publication the Podcast Business Journal.

  • New data from Sounds Profitable’s Advertising Landscape 2025 shows why sports podcasts are so successful for advertisers - 50% of sports podcast listeners discover new brands through podcast ads (that’s +7 points higher than all podcast listeners).
  • While we’re talking sport, Million Podcasts released a look inside the basketball podcast ecosystem. 94% of the hosts of the 2,200 active NBA podcasts out there are men. (The audience is 30% female).

• The Asia Podcast Awards are open for entries. Awards will be announced at Radiodays Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia, in early September.

• Captivate’s Mark Asquith has been named the third Hero of Indie Podcasting by podcast network Mercury Podcasts. Arielle Nissenblatt and Emma Turner were also honoured this year.

• Marc Maron is not a fan of video podcasts, at least if this expletive-filled spray from On with Kara Swisher is anything to go by. (Here’s the full episode).

• The police are getting involved with true crime podcasts - by making their own. In Denver CO, USA, the Aurora police department are releasing a new podcast at the end of June, looking for clues for a cold case.

• Fiction podcast Creepy has been acquired by Be Afraid Media. Host Jon Grilz will become the network’s Head of Podcasts. No terms were given.

• The Podcast Tech Stack writes about the new “play” metric, which we’ve covered in previous editions. “The metric that determines value is gradually shifting closer to actual consumption,” says Cody McLaughlin, adding “Podcasting spent twenty years measuring distribution because that was what the technology allowed. The next twenty years will be about measuring attention because that’s what the market demands.”

• We’ve just booked our flights and tickets for Podcast Movement NYC 2026. Will we see you there?

No Gear, No Gig

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It’s not unusual for podcasters working at home to think that their studios and gear are covered by their homeowner’s insurance. However, if that equipment is used to generate income, it’d likely be considered “business equipment” and excluded from a claim.

Check with Laura Donelan at MusicPro Insurance to make sure the tools of your trade are properly covered. MusicPro is a 20+ year old company owned by ASCAP and Sterling Risk specializing in protecting music and AV gear. For the “white glove service” MusicPro is known for, call Laura today at 1-800-MusicPro, or reach out by email at ldonelan@musicproinsurance.com.

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Tips and tricks

• Want to add 191,000 listeners to your shows? Take a tip from Audio Always, who are using an old radio trick to get people trying new shows.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast This award-winning, ground-breaking immersive sound podcast asks critical questions about American history and culture, community, economics, the environment, and mental health while encouraging folks to activate their imaginations as a tool for healing. The most recent episode takes a trip to the Mojave Shoe Station - a place where shoes go to tell stories about their owners.

From Forbes, a new original marketing podcast launched this week. A Different Take is hosted by Linda Boff, President of Forbes CMO Network and CEO of Said Differently. In the first season, go behind the scenes of Coca-Cola and the evolving role of AI in advertising. Through conversations with industry leaders, Boff unpacks how one of the world’s most recognizable brands balances legacy with reinvention, and what marketers can learn.

gay-i is new today from Bubbler Media and iHeartPodcasts - a new podcast looking at marketing, media and culture through a distinctly LGBTQ+ lens. All marketing is definitely not created equal; the first episode looks at Heated Rivalry, and why stories once overlooked are increasingly becoming the cultural moments brands need to understand.

What if everything you wrote came true, for better or for worse? The third season of Tales From The Æther, an anthology series written by award-winning writer Jackie Jorgenson, starts today. Donne di Fora is set in mid-19th-century New York City, where two Sicilian sisters chase the promise of a new life. But when the younger sister pursues a career in theatre, the stories she writes have an odd way of… becoming real.