A new case for quality content emerges as podcasts draw bigger, more affluent crowds.
From “Serial” to “This American Life” to “The TED Radio Hour,” podcasts are gaining audiences. An estimated 46 million Americans listened to a podcast in the past month, according to Edison Research. Further, 61 percent bought something a host had peddled on the show, according to Midroll, a podcast advertising network.
Data from Pew Research Center show podcast audiences have been steadily growing over the past two years, in part because of advances in technology that make it easier to stream podcasts in cars wirelessly through Bluetooth technology. Most podcast listeners are mobile listeners, according to Midroll, with cars being the most popular place to tune into a favorite podcast. More than 50 percent of podcast consumers are listening from their cars and almost 90 percent report tuning into all or most of the podcast.
And if that isn’t enough to convince you to develop a branded podcast, consider this: Most podcast listeners are affluent and well educated. Half have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 53 percent spent at least $132 on books and ebooks last year, according to Midroll’s 2015 survey of 168,500 podcast listeners. Also, they have disposable income: 22 percent reported an annual household income of $100,000 or more, and report spending money on entertainment and dining.
The numbers:
- 46 million: The number of Americans who listened to a podcast in the past month.
- 61%: Podcast listeners who bought an item being peddled by the show’s host.
- 22%: Podcast listeners who have an annual household income of $100,000 or more.
- 50%: Podcast listeners who have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
- 53%: Podcast listeners who spent at least $132 on books and ebooks last year.
- 28%: Podcast listeners who spent at least $300 on books and ebooks last year.
- 88%: Podcast listeners who tune in for most or all of the podcast.
- 34%: Podcast listeners who spend at least $300 annually on ticketed entertainment.
- 35%: Podcast listeners who spend at least $300 annually on home entertainment subscriptions such as Netflix, Hulu and Spotify.
- 57%: Podcast listeners who spend at least $600 annually on dining out.
