Chartable finds downloads down as coronavirus spreads, but listens saw an even bigger drop

Chartable released an assessment of podcast listening, adding a new layer to the picture of how the world is consuming media during a pandemic. It combined data about downloads with its listening statistics from publishers from Apple Podcasts Connect and Spotify for Podcasters. It examined a subset of about 6,000 podcasts and compared their March results with a baseline of results from the second half of February, when there were just over a dozen confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.

Its figures found that both downloads and listens began to dip in early March as the pandemic began to get more serious in the United States. The chart showed a bigger drop-off for listens on both Apple and Spotify compared with downloads, noting that both platforms will continue downloading episodes even if they are not played.

The trend showed a little variation by genre, but generally listening followed the same big dip over the first several weeks of March. Listening dropped 30% of more for Religion & Spirituality, Arts, TV & Film, and Sports categories.

Chartable also tracks reviews. While this offers the company a view of shows even from publishers that don’t use its services, it is best seen as a rough measure of listener engagement. The company saw reviews take a dip in early March just as listens did, reaching a nadir of 32% below the baseline. But the trend has been turning around since March 22.