Podcast trends for 2022
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Over the last year, podcasting has grown to new heights and is attracting more listeners than ever before.
Podcasting is now an evolutionary community with unique attributes not found in other platforms.
Data from Nielsen shows that the U.S. podcast listener base has grown by 40% over the past three years, with 51% of users saying they started listening during the past two years.
Nelson Spade, the general manager of WISH-TV’s sister company Circulus Digital Media, says today’s podcast audience has evolved and become more inclusive.
“The profile was really male-dominated, middle-aged audience, kind of higher income social-economic status and it’s really becoming more diverse,” Spade said. “This new sampling is taking place almost evenly. Male-female split, bigger age range, and more diverse than ever before as well. This year so far, African-American and Hispanic audiences are two of the fastest-growing.”
Spade says that with this shift, the types of podcasts that are most popular have changed and users are looking for more of an escape than ever before.
“The four fastest-growing topics are true crime, fiction, history, and sports,” Spade said. “What’s interesting is, a third of the top 50 podcasts in the country are actually from independent producers, not big shops. You don’t have to be a huge organization to thrive in the podcast world because niche is really mainstream.”
Podcasting also presents new opportunities for businesses and brands wanting to reach new audiences, according to Spade.
“Only 25% of the podcasts right now have advertising in them. So, as that continues to grow, you’ll have more opportunities to market your business,” Spade said.
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