The podcast audience is growing rapidly, and listeners say the quality of content is steadily improving, according to recent research from CMO by Adobe.
The report was based on data from a survey conducted between May 30 and July 6, 2019 among 1,008 adults in the US who stream podcasts or audio books.
According to Comscore data cited by Adobe, the number of users of podcast mobile apps has jumped 60% since January 2018, and a quarter of current podcast listeners had started listening to podcasts in the previous six months.
Some 72% of the people surveyed by Adobe say the quality of podcasts is increasing, and only 6% say it is decreasing.
Discovery
Some 41% of respondents say they discover new podcasts via online sources; 24%, via friends; 16%, within podcast apps; and 14%, via family.
Where People Listen
More than half (52%) of respondents say they listen to podcasts while commuting to work/while working, and 42% listen while in the car; 18% listen while traveling on airplanes, 16% while on vacation, and 16% while at the gym.
Content Preferences
Most respondents say they prefer podcasts to be shorter than an hour.
Comedy and humor is the most popular podcast genre (46% of respondents listen); educational ranks second, and history third.
Podcast Advertising
One-third of respondents who have heard an ad while listening to a podcast say they find podcast ads to be more engaging than ads on other formats, and 40% say they find podcast ads to be less intrusive than on other formats.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted between May 30 and July 6, 2019 among 1,008 adults in the US who stream either podcasts or audio books.