It’s no secret that podcast awareness and consumption of podcasts in the U.S. is on the rise.
The latest data from the Infinite Dial 2020, produced by Edison Research and Triton Digital only confirms the explosion in on-demand digital audio consumption, which has led to a renaissance of content designed for the ear.
Three-in-four Americans aged 12 and over are now familiar with podcasting, up from 70% in 2019. Further, some 37% of Americans — or 104 million people — listen monthly, up from 32% in 2019.
“Podcasts now reach over 100 million Americans every month, and are attracting an increasingly diverse audience,” says Edison Research SVP Tom Webster. “With 62% of Americans now saying they have used some kind of voice assistance technology, audio is becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives.”
The Infinite Dial report also found that 62% of those in the U.S. age 12+ use voice-operated assistants, while 45% of Americans aged 12 and older have listened to audio in a car through a cell phone.
Further, some 18% of Americans age 18+ own a car with an in-dash information and entertainment system, such as Apple CarPlay.
What did the Infinite Dial also learn? In 2020, smart speaker households owned an average of 2.2 of the devices, up from an average of 1.7 just two years ago.
Additionally, there is now gender parity with respect to monthly podcast consumption, with 39% of men and 36% of women 12+ calling themselves monthly podcast listeners. In 2019, some 36% of men and 29% of women said they were monthly listeners.
Meanwhile, the Infinite Dial report confirms that Facebook is very much a social media platform parents and grandparents are more likely to use: 32% of Americans between the ages of 12 and 34 use Facebook most often, down from 58% from five years ago.
For Facebook as a company, ownership of Instagram helps: Some 27% of those in the U.S. between the ages of 12 and 34 use Instagram most often, up from 15% five years ago.
The Infinite Dial® 2020 webinar is now available for download: https://www.
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