YouTube and Spotify are the top preferred platforms for consuming news podcasts in the UK amongst adults, according to a recent Ofcom survey.
The communications regulator recently published its annual News Consumption Survey for 2023, which included responses from over 4,500 adults aged 16+.
The report highlighted the popularity of news podcasts in the UK with 6.8% of adults reporting that they use podcasts as a source of news. However, TV, radio, newspapers and other internet services including social media and other websites or apps all remained more popular.
YouTube replaced Spotify as the most popular platform for consuming news podcasts, going up by 2% to 39%, while Spotify remained static at 38%. This is followed by BBC Sounds, which grew by 6% since 2022, now at 28%, as the platform continued to expand its news podcast offerings with titles such as Ukrainecast, Best of Today, and Newscast.
Ofcom also released figures for its Teen News Consumption Survey 2023 which included 1,003 respondents aged 12-15. The number of teens who’ve ever used podcasts to consume news increased by 1% in 2023, now at 9%, but only 3% of them consider podcasts in their top three sources. Instead, the most popular ways to consume podcasts for teens are through talking with family and friends, watching TV, social media, radio, websites, printed newspapers and magazines, and search engines.
BBC World Service is also launching a new daily news podcast titled What In The World on 31 July aimed at young listeners aged 16 to 24 around the world, in an effort to break down news headlines to listeners and fight the spread of misinformation.
According to a recent report from SXM Media and Edison Research, comedy, entertainment/celebrity/gossip, true crime, music, and games/hobbies are the most popular podcasts amongst younger listeners. The report surveyed 1,000 monthly podcast listeners in the US in April 2023 aged 13 to 24. However, over four in 10 said it is important that podcasts keep them up to date on social issues and offer perspectives and opinions that are different from their own.
