Comedy is the most listened to podcast genre in the US, according to data from Edison Research.
The data showed that although comedy was the most popular genre across all age groups, it reaches a greater proportion of podcast listeners between the ages of 18-24, 62% of whom report listening to comedy podcasts within the last week, compared to just 39% of those aged 25+.
Society and culture and true crime podcasts were in second place for Gen Z listeners at 24% and 20%, respectively. News was more popular for listeners aged 25+ at 31%, meanwhile, with society & culture following closely behind at 27%.
“The audio industry’s fascination with the spoken word sector is easy to understand given the 24-hour news cycle, an endless supply of content, and the rise of podcasts,” said Edison Research in its weekly insights report. “[This] study provides insight into just how much spoken word has grown in the U.S., and particularly how younger demographics consume spoken word.”
The insights come in advance of The Spoken Audio Report 2022, created by Edison Research in collaboration with NPR. The fourth annual report, released today, explores spoken-word content consumption habits in the U.S with a specific focus on Gen Z data.
The report has been compiled using data from Edison’s Podcast Metrics tracking product, The company has also announced that it will be developing a new complementary service to incorporate download numbers into this tool in order to gain deeper insight into podcast consumption behaviours. Set for release some time in Q4 this year, the download tracking method will not rely on redirects on log file delivery.
“We have developed an elegant new solution that will enhance our unique Edison Podcast Metrics survey,” said Edison Research president, Larry Rosin. “While our survey of 20,000 podcast listeners each year provides the most complete look at the totality of actual listening to podcasts, download data will provide deeper information to subscribers, especially for smaller and short-run shows.
“This combination, designed using input from various publishers, will make our data even richer and more comprehensive – allowing podcast producers and advertisers to have even more understanding of the space.”
