Podcast listening is clearly mainstream

Listening is growing across age groups according to new stats

When I released my first podcast back in 2006, it was very much an experiment and far from being a viable alternative to my daily radio show.

Seventeen years later and podcasting is clearly a mainstream medium having become a viable and popular way to share and consume everything from comedy to news and analysis of the most serious topics.

New stats from leading audience analytics firm Nielsen demonstrates podcasts' appeal.

In the US, a more mature #podcasting market than the UK, almost two thirds of respondents have listened to a podcast including 42% in the last month and 31% in the last week.

Digging deeper, podcast listeners are going BIG with the average podcast listener having consumer nine shows in the past week and 43% listening for 1-4 hours per week.

For some, podcast listening is taking up even more of their time - 15% listen for 5-7 hours a week, and 16% for more than 7 hours a week.

Is it just young men into tech?

This used to be true. But the Nielsen data shows that the above listening metrics are fairly universal across all age groups, although it's fair to say that the 18-34 age group has seen the largest rise in 10+ hours of weekly listening.

Where there is some more obvious generation differences in podcast listening is in where people listen.

While only 37% of 18-34s listen to podcasts at home, this rises to 42% among 35-49s, and 58% for over 50s.

Listening while in transit (car or public transport) is growing and accounts for 38% of podcast listening across all age groups including 43% of under 50s and 28% of over 50s.

At work listening accounts for just 13% of all listening with 'other' taking just a 5% share.

Ad recall

The research also found strong recall of brands using podcast advertising with an average 50% across seven industries for unaided recall and 71% for aided recall.