Edison Research has been tracking podcasting stats since the earliest days. Their latest missive, The Podcast Consumer 2018, contains all new data on podcast users in America, and is derived from the Infinite Dial 2018 study (conducted in partnership with Triton Digital), The Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison, and the latest from Edison’s Share of Ear research.
Their latest findings suggest that podcasting continues to experience tremendous growth: research says monthly listeners grew from 24% of Americans 12+ to 26% year by year. Edison’s podcast stats show that they are the number one audio source by time of consumption among podcast listeners, and that podcasting’s Share of Ear has doubled over the past four years.
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Edison further suggests that podcast listeners are power users of new media technology. Podcast listeners, they say, are more likely to own a smart speaker, and are listening to more podcasts while in vehicles, not particularly good news for AM/FM radio broadcasters.
Not surprisingly, podcast listeners appear to be passionate about podcasts, few are only partially engaged. Edison’s research says podcasts are the number one audio source by time of consumption among podcast listeners.
In January/February of 2018, Edison Research conducted a national telephone survey of 2,000 Americans ages 12 and older, using random digit dialing techniques to both cellphones and landlines. The data was weighted to national 12+ population figures.