In a new data release from Sounds Profitable, a meticulous analysis of self-described listener behavior seeks to understand the listening habits and preferences of people who listen to News podcasts. Called The News Podcast Consumer, it is part of an ongoing study called The Podcast Landscape.
NPR is the sponsoring partner in this effort.
Divided into four detailed sections, the public release reveals four key takeaways:
- News podcast listeners are frequent consumers. Most listen weekly, averaging at least an hour more than average users.
- YouTube is the top way that News podcast listeners find new episodes (but also over-index for word-of-mouth discovery).
- Outside of YouTube, the top four other audio platforms used monthly for getting news are AM/FM radio, Free streaming music, paid streaming music, and streaming AM/FM.
- The age profile of news podcast listeners is nearly identical to the U.S. population (see below).
The field work for this release was conducted by Signal Hill Insights, and comprised over 5,000 interviews with 18+Americans, and claims to be the largest public study of podcasting in America. This particular output of that large repository of consumer sentiment is derived from 793 participants; they are the ones who had consumed a News podcast in the last month. (That’s 31% of the total podcast audience.)
The News Podcast Consumer is a free download.
