36% of Black Americans listen to podcasts monthly: New research (Edison, SXM, Mindshare)

“Black listeners are closing the gap with the general market.” That’s a general insight driving a new consumer survey study fielded by Edison Research and supported by SXM Media and media agency Mindshare. The Black Podcast Listener Report will be presented via webinar on Tuesday, November 16, at 2pm ET. It’s free; register HERE.

To put a finer point on it, 36% of Black Americans now listen to podcasts monthly. The weekly listening number is 26%, just under the overall market of 28% weekly listeners.

In a promotional blog post, Mindshare asserts that 42% of Black monthly podcast listeners say they’ve been streaming shows for one year or less. “The Black audience is interested, curious, and remaining hooked,” Mindshare concludes.

The interest and support from Mindshare and SXM Media lean toward addressing the Black listener market with podcast advertising. The survey report will emphasize that the famous trust bond which can exist between podcast host and podcast listener is even more intense with Black-hosted shows: “As a whole, podcast fans trust their favorite hosts to make recommendations for products and services they use and admire, but when it’s a Black host doing the talking, the response is even greater for Black listeners: brand trust, consideration, and purchase intent all increase to over 80% in each category.”

One more data nibble in advance of the Nov. 16 webinar: Black listeners over-index for listening at home with others. That’s an interesting metric for a media category that is famous for encouraging individual headphone listening. The report will note that 47% of Black listeners who consume podcasts at home do so wile spending time with family and friends, compared to 23% of the overall weekly audience.

Again: November 16, 2pm ET; free registration HERE.

Brad Hill