The Next Generation of Podcast Listeners

We hear so much in the news today about what seems to be the battle for our children’s souls. And it starts with their minds and their hearts. In many circumstances, it appears the world is winning that battle because of the influence of schools, friends, and social media. But there is ample opportunity for Christians to have their voices heard with this audience as well. One possible way would be through a podcast.

A recent Edison Podcast Report addressed the topic of kids listening to podcasts. There are some interesting insights that can be learned from this report that could help someone tailor a podcast to meet the growing needs of this juvenile audience.

The study focused on 6–12-year-olds, and not only were the children interviewed, but also their parents. One of the findings that immediately stood out was that of all audio sources, podcasts come in fourth in popularity for children, with only 29 percent of all children listening to podcasts at least once a month. Of the children whose parents listen to podcasts, that number jumps to 42 percent. And of all those children who listened to a podcast at least once a month, 25 percent listen every day.

The top four reasons kids give for listening to podcasts are because they are fun to listen to; you can listen while doing other things; they like to listen with their family; and they like the people on the podcast. The top five podcast formats for this age group are games, music, comedy, short stories, and adventure.

Ninety-four percent of the children listening to podcasts like to listen with their families. And that same percentage say they learn new things by listening to a podcast, while 87 percent say that they share this information with others.

Parents of children who listen to podcasts say they want podcasts that the whole family can enjoy (72%), with topics that they can discuss with their kids (71%). They are also very engaged with their child’s podcast activity. They follow the podcast on social media, purchase merchandise from the podcast, pay subscriptions for their children’s podcasts, donate money to the podcast, and have attended a live or virtual event hosted by the podcast.

For those parents whose children do not listen to podcasts, they give several reasons: the kids haven’t found one they enjoy; there are not enough available; they are difficult to discover; the parents are not aware of age-appropriate ones; and it’s difficult to find one the whole family can enjoy.

The parents in the survey suggested ways for getting their kids more excited about podcasts: make them based on their favorite TV shows, movies, or fictional characters; teach them something new or make learning fun; make them interactive or with a video component.

The need for podcasts for children will only grow. Already we know that Generation Z podcast listeners who started listening as children spend an average of three hours more per week than those who started listening later in life. So, as they have children and those children reach the age where they can start listening to podcasts, you know the demand for good podcasts aimed at children will grow even greater.

Now is the time to plan your podcast to reach this impressionable audience so that you can help form the next generation.