Podcasting continues to grow: Edison Research

• Edison Research’s Infinite Dial 2018 came out yesterday. They survey is sponsored by Triton Digital. It reports:

  • 64% of Americans (12+) know what a podcast is (up from 60% last year)
  • 44% of Americans say they’ve ever listened to a podcast (was 40%). 44% also say they have listened to an audiobook.
  • 17% listened to a podcast “last week” (was 15%).
  • The average number of podcasts listened-to “last week” has increased to seven. However, 48% of weekly listeners listen to three or less.
  • Podcast listeners listen most often at home (49%).
  • In cars: 22% say they listen most to podcasts in the car (up from 18%), and 23% say they listened to a podcast in the car within the last month. More Americans listen to podcasts than satellite radio.
  • Only 19% listen to podcasts at a faster speed than normal.
  • A full presentation is available at the Edison Research website.

• Some quotes in reaction:

  • “With the surge in smart speaker ownership, and the continued growth of podcasting and streaming audio, it is more important than ever for brands to have a holistic audio strategy.” - Tom Webster, Edison Research
  • “It’s no surprise to us that the report continued to show steady growth in podcast listenership across all demographics, and don’t think we’re anywhere near the limit when it comes to podcast audience size. The report alluded to this, but there are some massive broadcasters in the radio space who haven’t even entered podcasting yet, and whenever they do, they have the potential to create huge spikes in audience growth.” - Kurt Kaufer from AdResults Media

• Edison Research also announced that this year’s Infinite Dial Canada will be announced on April 4; and Infinite Dial Australia will be released in a hemispherically-ambiguous “Spring 2018” (I’ve clarified: - Australia, this means within the next few months, or as you know it, “Autumn”.).

• The NAB Show (Las Vegas NV, USA; April 7-12) will have a podcasting conference and exhibit area. It’s a specific expansion into podcasting for the US’s biggest broadcast show.

  • If the idea of your podcast being critiqued live on-stage appeals to you, you can submit your podcast today. Seth Resler, Podcast Movement’s Dan Franks, and Valerie Geller will offer critique.

• A new UK podcast about Japan has been launched - Abroad in Japan is from Radio Stakhanov, hosted by Acast; it’s a podcast adaptation of Chris Broad’s YouTube channel.

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• Podcast app Castbox has produced its own original series, Off Track with Hinch and Rossi. The press release claims that Castbox has 15m users around the world.

• Pod Save America is coming to Clearwater FL, USA next month. Also live: Midroll’s Katie Couric Podcast, this time one of the many podcasts going live in SXSW.

• A review page in Splitsider - “This week in comedy podcasts”.

• The AV Club links to an unusual item of clothing - a “podcast co-host top”. It’s a thing, apparently.

• The Blubrry podcast directory is celebrating that they now list over 500,000 podcasts. We’re there, of course.

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