Voxnest shared its latest statistics on podcast listening, offering a global snapshot of how COVID-19 has impacted audiences. The company noted that its Spreaker is the top hosting platform in Italy, which has been hardest hit by the pandemic in Europe. It also shared details from Spain, from across Europe, and some early figures from the U.S. as it prepares for the full force of the virus.
Since the beginning of March, the Voxnest Audience Network saw a 10% jump in listens in Italy. Spain listening experienced a small dip at the start of the month, but has since been following a similar curve to the Italian results. Overall European listening also demonstrated the same pattern.
Italian listeners have shown a shift in the type of podcasts they are preferring in this time of uncertainty. The Voxnest Audience Network found that listens to spirituality & religion shows increased 15 times. Self-improvement podcasts and marketing podcasts listens leapt to almost five times the normal rates. Podcasts for kids increased listens threefold.
Spain, which began its lockdown measures after Italy, has seen less dramatic changes by category so far. The topics with jumps in listening were society & culture, comedy, technology, books, and sports & recreation. In the U.S., which is expected to see a virus impact very similar to Italy’s, Voxnest found increased listening in the categories of books, games & hobbies, spirituality & religion, current events, and kids & family.
On the business side, Voxnest also observed that sign-ups for its most popular Spreaker plans have increased 75% globally over the past four weeks. It also saw new users in Italy
nearly double in that time.