Source: www.marketingcharts.com, September 2019

The US population has embraced podcasts, with the majority of Americans over the age of 12 years listening to them on a weekly basis. And, per a survey [slideshare] by Adobe, more than half (52%) of these podcast enthusiasts are listening to podcasts while commuting to work or while they are working.

Adobe surveyed more than 1,000 US adults (18 years and older) who listen to podcasts and/or audiobooks, and found that about two-fifths (42%) listen while in the car, while another 18% listen while traveling on airplanes. Some of these adults are also listening to podcasts while on vacation (16%) and at the gym (16%).

Some 45% of listeners say they plan on listening to more podcasts in the future, which is good news for advertisers. Although Adobe’s survey found that 58% of respondents say they have skipped through podcast ads, other research has found that podcast listeners are less likely to skip ads within a podcast than any other ad format.

Furthermore, the Adobe survey revealed that 3 in 5 podcast listeners say they have looked up products or services after hearing an ad on a podcast, and almost one-quarter say they have gone as far as making a purchase.

Meanwhile, among the nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents who report having heard an ad while listening to a podcast, 1 in 3 say the ads are more engaging than on other formats and 2 in 5 say they are less intrusive. This could be due to the type of ads heard on podcasts, as the majority of ads are still host-read, which aids in maintaining continuity within the podcast.

Here are a few more highlights from the survey:

  • About one-third of Millennials listen to 5 or more podcasts per week;
  • Gen Zs are getting into podcasts as well, with 67% saying they plan to listen to more podcasts next year;
  • Two-fifths (41%) of listeners find new podcasts through online sources, while about one-quarter (24%) look to recommendations from friends;
  • Seven in 10 (72%) of podcast listeners say podcast quality is improving.

About the Data: Results are based on a survey of 1,008 US adults, 18 years old and older, all of whom were required to stream either podcasts or audiobooks.