IAB: 2019 Consumer usage, plus Covid report: Podcasting and digital audio growth

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released two studies packaged together: the 2019 Consumer Usage Trends, and a Covid Impact on Consumer Media Usage (March-April 2020) report. Both reports are packaged together HERE.

During Covid-19 quarantining, music streaming (+30%) and podcasts (+13) are enjoying increased consumption.

Podcasts scored well in the Covid usage study, with all ages reporting increased  listening. Millennials spearheaded that trend at 26%.

Another interesting result was that listening to music (not necessarily digital or streaming, as far as we  can tell in the report) was the second-highest quarantine internet activity, with all age groups (except boomers) scoring over 50% (Boomers lagged at 38%).

Among respondents who said they are currently consuming more streaming music during shelter-at-home, 74% said they intended to continue doing so after the Covid outbreak. This finding is interesting, inasmuch as it reveals the Covid quarantine as an important discovery situation — assuming the respondents follow through as they predicted. That same line of questioning was asked of people who are listening to more podcasts: 62% of them said they would continue their elevated listening after Covid.

In the 2019 Consumer Usage Trends report, digital audio contined to grow along a rising year-over-year trendline. Sixty-seven percent of the U.S. population (12+) listened to online audio monthly, up from  64% a year before.

Brad Hill