Podcast Fans - Lovers of Audio

But the headline said...

The headline posted on Inside Radio made me pause. Were people who love podcasts really listening to podcasts six hours a day?  After I read the article I was reassured because if this was true, there would be no future for public radio.

Podcast Fans Love Audio—Six Hours Daily

What the data from Edison Research’s quarterly “Share of Ear” report shows is that podcast lovers listen to a lot of audio. Edison uses a broad definition of audio including radio, satellite, streaming, music videos on YouTube and a consumer’s personal music. 

These are younger, well educated listeners using mobile devices. They spend most of their time listening to podcasts...about  33%. Radio is second with 20% of their time.  They spend over six hours a week listening to audio. The average American spends about fours a week.

Sound Familiar?

Public Radio's audience also consumes a lot of audio. The benchmark in the early 2000's was over six hours a week. The core audience at a station with strong audience appeal was around 12 hours a week.

Other findings, reported by Inside Radio on Friday, include: The shorter the podcast, the more likely listeners will listen to the full podcast. Half of all podcast time spent occurs on mobile devices, followed by computers. And middays and nights are podcasting “primetime.”

What's In It For Public Radio?

A reality check. According tot he research, 5% of all Americans are into podcasts. 95% are not!

 Most of Public Radio's resources need to be centered on drivetime. The content that continues to appeal in drivetime is the news and information public radio produces.  Drivetime is still radio's most important day part. Drivetime should continue to appeal to public radio's biggest audience.

The podcast crowd listens to public radio. We need to make sure we're on the platforms used by this audience. Podcasting is the best way for our content to reach these highly educated consumers of audio. Podcast lovers choose middays and nights to listen to content on their favorite platform. The top ten chart published by iTunes testifies to the appeal of public radio's content to this market segment.

• 1Hidden Brain
• 2This American Life
• 3TED Radio Hour
• 4Serial
• 5Radiolab
• 6Stuff You Should Know
• 7Undisclosed: The State Vs. Adnan Syed
• 8Fresh Air
• 9Guys We F****d
• 10Freakonomics Radio

Is it a question of resources? Local stations need to look at partnerships that will get them into the podcasting game.