Podcast Statistics: Researches, Studies and Other Interesting Data

The following are podcast statistics I have collected over the years. They are sorted in reverse chronological (release date) order. This list is going to be updated on a regular basis.

Podcast demographics and growth

06/07/2007 - According to research from The Diffusion Group, 11% of adult broadband users (some 12 million US consumers) listen to podcasts at least once per month. The report predicts that by 2012 this number will grow to 24% of broadband users (38.5 million Americans). Among those that listen to podcasts at least once per month, 68% use a portable device while 49% listen to them on a PC (an interesting insight given that many define podcasting as only a portable medium).

05/16/2007 - According to comScore: an analysis of the iTunes podcasting audience revealed that males represented a significantly larger share (63 percent) of the audience than did females (37 percent). In addition, 18-24 year olds represented a substantial share of the audience (29 percent) and were more than twice as likely as the average Internet user to download podcasts. People between the ages of 35-54 represented about half of the podcasting audience and were also more likely than average to download podcasts.

03/22/2007 - Edison Research: Awareness of the term “Podcasting” increased from 22% to 37% (almost two in five vs. one in five). Persons who had ‘ever’ listened to an audio podcast rose from 11% to 13%. Persons who had ‘ever’ watched a video podcast rose from 10% to 11%.

02/20/2007 - Odeo.com traffic up 84 percent year after year, according to Hitwise.

02/16/2007 - Rocketboom video podcast is viewed by mostly male. Sixty eight percent get their news from other sources too — indie and major news sites, TV, newspaper, radio, etc. More respondents have income over $60K than under. Sixty five percent had made a purchase online. Sixty four percent do not create audio or video content. As high as 68 percent of survey participants watch the vidcast online. Fifty one percent use PC, 44 percent Mac and 5 percent others.

01/23/2007 - 2006 marked a year where digital content aficionados could find a podcast covering just about any topic imaginable.

11/22/2006 - Some 12 percent of Internet users say they have downloaded a podcast sot hey can listen to it or view it at a later time. This finding compares to the 7% of Internet users who reported podcast downloading in Feb-Apr 2006 survey. Podcast downloads are starting to get even for age group 18-29, 30-49 and 50-64 at 14%, 12%, and 12%, respectively. Twenty percent have more than 4 years of online experience (13 % have 6+ years). Percentage of household income of more than $30,000 and more also increases.

10/03/2006 - Nielsen//NetRatings reveals that although 42 percent of Britons know what podcasting is, a third (35 percent) has heard of it but doesn’t know what it is and a quarter (23%) have never heard of it. Blogging and podcasting are two recent activities talked about as though they are as commonplace as watching television.

07/30/2006 - Pew Research Center: 2 percent of Americans get cutting edge news from podcasts, of which the majority of them are aged 18-29, followed by people within the age group of 30-49 and then 50-64.

07/12/2006 - Nielsen//NetRatings announced that 6.6 percent of the U.S. adult online population, or 9.2 million Web users, have recently downloaded an audio podcast, 4 percent, or 5.6 million Web users, have recently downloaded a video podcast. Audio and video podcast audience consist mainly of youngter between the age of 18-24. Podcasting remains a niche activity.

06/21/2006 - Fifty three percent of podcasters are full-time employee, followed by 23 percent student. Eighty percent podcasters have one to three years of college or more. They also tend to spend more money online and offline.

05/30/2006 - Podtrac reported that over half (56%) of the podcast audience is listening and viewing podcasts on their computers, 46% on a portable device, and the vast majority (88%) listen or view the entire podcast episode. Seventy six percent of podcast users shopped online in the past 30 days and 57 percent spent more than $200 online in the past 12 months. Podcast awareness continues to grow as 41 percent of US online adults were aware of the term podcasting at the end of Q1 2006 versus 32 percent at the end of Q4 2005.

04/24/2006 - The results of a new web poll survey, conducted by Rock radio consultants Jacobs Media, consisting of over 25,000 respondents from over 75 Rock-formatted stations from all over the U.S., show that of all the new media tested — satellite radio, Internet streaming, text messaging, video games — the sharpest growth belongs to iPods and similar MP3 players.

04/20/2006 - More than 45 million people listened to and watched podcasts off the Libsyn network in the first quarter of 2006. That is almost double from Q4 2005 (about 25 million). Seventy two percent of people get podcasts from iTunes (down 5 percent from Q4 2005). Twenty two percent get podcasts via web browsers.

04/18/2006 - FeedBurner recently surpassed a major milestone of 44,000 podcast feeds under management which, according to the CIA World Factbook, exceeds the total number of radio stations worldwide. While radio audience is declining, podcast circulation is consistently growing nearly 20% per month. There are more than 1.6 million aggregate subscribers to FeedBurner-managed podcasts, and this number has more than doubled in the past six months.

04/14/2006 - According to Arbitron 22 percent of Americans have heard of podcasting, and 11 percent have tried podcasts (approximately 27 million Americans). More than half of podcast audience are male (52 percent) vs. female (48 percent). The majority of audience have income from $25-$75K.

08/05/2005 - JupiterResearch: the average consumers of blogs, RSS/XML feeds and podcasts is male, Internet savvy (more than 5 years of Internet tenure), earn big bucks ($75,000 or more annual income) and, in the case of podcasts, is a youngster (mostly 18-34 of ages).

07/22/2005 - Pew Internet: 13 percent of online Americans have a good idea about what podcasting is, 64% not really sure, 23% never heard about the term. Sixteen percent of men respondents understand what podcasting is, 11 percent women. Twelve percent of respondents who understand podcasting are aged 18-29, 5 percent aged 65+. Sixteen percent of those who understand podcasting have broadband at home, 11 percent have dial-up.

06/15/2005 - According to forecasts from The Diffusion Group, a leading consumer technology research consultancy, demand for time-shifted digital audio files or “podcasts” is expected to grow from less than 15% of portable digital music player owners in 2004 to 75% by 2010. The report suggests that between 2004 and 2010, the use of podcasting among US consumers will enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 101%. The actual number: 840,000 listeners in 2004 to 56 million by 2010.

04/12/2005 - According to Forrester Research, 20.1 million US households will listen to satellite radio, and 12.3 million US households will use their MP3 players to listen to audio podcasts by the end of the decade.

Statistics for portable media players

04/09/2007 - Apple announced that the 100 millionth iPod has been sold, making the iPod the fastest selling music player in the history.

09/19/2006 - Disney reported that in the first week of the iTunes movie store, the company sold 125,000 movies and generated $1 million. They expects about $50 million in revenue for the year. As of this time Disney’s 75 titles are the only movies available in the the iTunes movie store.

06/30/2005 - Just two days after the release of iTunes 4.9, customers have subscribed to more than one million podcasts from the iTunes Podcast Directory.

06/28/2005 - Apple for the first time released support for podcasting in Apple iTunes 4.9.

04/13/2005 - JupiterResearch reported that U.S. shipments of MP3 players will grow 35% to 18.2 million in 2005 and maintain a compound annual growth rate of over 10% through 2010, reaching an installed base of 56.1 million by then, up from 16.2 million in 2004.

Podcast advertising statistics

02/12/2007 - According to a report to be released by eMarketer, spending on podcasting advertising will quintuple over the next five years, from a paltry $80 million base in 2006 to a $400 million market in 2011.

03/29/2006 - A study by eMarketer in December 2005 about planned spending in 2006 on emerging advertising tactics according to US Online Marketers shows that 18 percent of respondents definitely will spend on in-house podcast, with 31 percent more than a year out. Fourteen percent definitely will spend on sponsoring podcasts, with 32 percent more than a year out.

Miscellaneous podcast statistics

08/22/2007 - The steady growth of consumer adoption of digital music, video, and other entertainment services — though markets are still small by comparison to traditional media — show households are no longer “one size fits all,” and content providers and marketers must follow suit. 23 percent of respondents reported using a portable music service (e.g., iTunes); seven percent reported having a video content subscription for their mobile phones; 11 percent reported a PC-based music service; and 18 percent reported an online newspaper subscription. Source: IBM consumer survey.

08/13/2007 - A study by Online Publishers Association and Nielsen//NetRatings reveals that while e-commerce and communications still re main popular, reading and viewing content has skyrocketed between 2003 and today.

11/27/2007 - A prediction that within four years 40% of all video consumption would occur outside of the television set. That’s according to a poll of nearly 300 media execs by Myers and video tracking firm Teletrax.

02/04/2008 - In a report, eMarketer reveals that the total US podcast audience reached 18.5 million in 2007. The total audience will increase by 251% to 65 million in 2012. There are currently 6.5 million people that download one or more podcasts per week. In five years, there will be 25 million active podcast downloaders.