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Monthly podcast listening is down for the first time in almost a decade, according to study

Edison Research found that the share of Americans who are monthly podcast listeners dropped slightly from 2021 to 2022.
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Fewer Americans are regularly listening to podcasts this year compared to 2021. Data from Edison Research indicates we might be able to add that to the list of things we blame millennials and Gen Z for.

Monthly podcast listening in the US—or the share of Americans over the age of 12 who said they listened to a podcast in the last month—ticked down from 41% in 2021 to 38% in 2022, the first decline since 2013, according to The Infinite Dial, Edison’s annual report that tracks digital-media consumer behavior. This year’s survey was conducted in January via telephone among 1,502 respondents aged 12 and older.

The decrease appears to be partly driven by Americans ages 12–34, an important demographic for many advertisers as they continue to increase podcast ad spending, which is expected to surpass $2 billion nationally by next year, according to eMarketer.

  • That cohort reported a six percentage-point decrease in monthly podcast listening, down from 56% in 2021 to 50% in 2022. They account for almost half (47%) of all monthly podcast listeners in the country.

On the other hand, monthly listening among Americans ages 35–54 ticked up by four points, from 39% to 43%.

Don’t panic: There’s some brighter news in the report. Podcasting continues to expand its reach, with 62% of Americans ages 12 and up, or an estimated 177 million people, reporting that they’ve listened to a podcast at least once. That’s up from 57% who said the same last year.

“Clearly, Americans went back to work and back to school last year, which brought podcasting numbers back in line with pre-pandemic figures,” said Edison Research SVP Tom Webster about the report. “However, the trend line continues to go up, particularly with 35–54 year olds.”

Zoom out: The top-10 podcast advertisers spent nearly $300 million combined on the medium last year, per recent eMarketer research, more than double 2020’s $145 million.—AM

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