News podcasts: who listens to them and in what formats do they work?
Source Reuters Institute
-In its latest newsletter, Reuters Institute talks about the role of news podcasts and links us to its own podcast on the subject.
What explains the popularity of news podcasts among publishers and listeners alike, what does the typical listener look like, and what are the most popular formats for news podcasts? These are the questions explored in a chapter of the Digital News Report 2023 written by Nic Newman. Digital News Report 2023 escrito por Nic Newman.
He highlights three key findings:
-Podcast ratings vary by country. On average, 12% of respondents in 20 countries said they had listened to a news podcast in the previous month. But this proportion varies widely by country. The United States tops the list with 19%, followed by Sweden, home of Spotify, with 17%. In the United Kingdom, only 8% do so, and in several countries, such as France and Argentina, the percentage is 9%.
- Extended chats" are the most popular. We asked respondents to write down the news podcasts they listened to. Between 200 and 700 were mentioned in each country. The most mentioned are the longer format ones, such as The Rest is Politics in the U.K. or Joe Rogan Experience.
-Publishers find it hard to compete with technology platforms. In larger countries, publishers find it difficult to compete with the major podcast platforms in delivering the level of user experience that consumers want. An exception is BBC Sounds in the UK, which has a similar reach (31%) to Spotify (33%) for podcasts. In the US, YouTube is the most popular platform (31%) for accessing podcasts.
