No one envisaged the podcast’s journey when Adam Curry first used the term in the 2000s. Today in 2021, millions of people tune in to their favourite channel wherever and whenever they want. It is like your favourite radio show which can be played according to your convenience.
The year 2020, eaten up by lockdown, led to the rise in the daily podcast listeners. Two third (66%) of the daily podcast listeners in the US have polled to have been listening to podcasts more after the outbreak of the pandemic. Out of the 66%, 38% have been listening to podcasts much more after the coronavirus outbreak. More than 66% of Americans who are not too keen on podcasts say their frequency of tuning in to a podcast has remained the same.
With more than 800,000 active podcasts and over 30 million podcast episodes in the US, listeners have a wide variety ranging from free to paid/premium. Though the rising popularity and relatable content have generated revenues from paid subscribers, few are up to dig into their pockets to listen. More than half (55%) of the daily podcast listeners in the US have not paid a penny to listen to podcasts while 42% have paid.
Paid podcasts not only give you access to the content you prefer but also makes your experience ad-free. About half of daily podcast listeners in the US do not mind a mix of both, free ad-supported and paid ad-free podcasts. Listeners who do not mind ads at all are 32% which say that all podcasts should be available free, and ad-supported. While listeners, who believe ads to be unnecessary and do not at all mind paying for podcasts are around 18%.
Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data referenced is based on a sample size of 2,300 Americans. Online interviews were conducted between March 2020 to March 2021. Profiles data is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.
