There are many reasons to podcast. Like writing, podcasts serve many purposes: to inform, entertain, and persuade.
I’ve been podcasting for over six years now and I love it. The benefits I have found include networking and friendships, growing my digital presence and authority, earning a side income, and most importantly: learning.
Let’s take a look at the stats.
Edison Research and Triton Digital have been producing excellent data on the state of podcasting for the past several years. I pulled the following highlights from their Infinite Dial 2018 study:
An estimated 124 million Americans have listened to a podcast.
- Roughly 73 million Americans listen monthly & 48 million weekly.
- This is positive year-to-year growth since 2013.
- On average, 7 podcasts are listened to per week.
- About 70% of people listen on their mobile devices and 30% from a computer.
- 50% listen from home, over 20% in the car, and the rest is broken up between other tasks like working out or riding public transit.
- Roughly 80% of the people surveyed listen to most or all of the podcast and 80% listen at regular speed.
- These numbers continue to grow alongside of things like internet radio, smart speakers, and more.
The takeaway?
Podcasting is a growing medium.
The growth is consistent.
We are far from maximum saturation.
In the next episode, I will answer “Should you start a podcast for your business?” This will expand on some of the things mentioned in this episode.