Podcasting Fact Sheet

Podcasting is booming, with no signs of slowing despite the disruption and fragmentation happening online. More people are listening to podcasts than ever, even turning to podcasts instead of misinformation-plagued social media, TV, or streaming music. In turn, more organizations are creating podcast content or putting ad dollars into podcasting.  

This podcasting fact sheet reviews key statistics and trends as you consider with podcasting or podcast advertising is right for your organization. 

Key Statistics and Trends

Podcast familiarity and listenership are up, possibly replacing social media time; AI and video are coming into play; and new demographic trends are emerging.

Majority of Americans are now familiar with podcasting. 85% of Americans ages 12+ (approximately 212 million people) are now familiar with the term podcasting, up from 70% in 2019. — Edison Research

More Americans than ever are listening to podcasts. As of 2025, just over half of U.S. adults (54%) reported listening to a podcast in the prior 12 months. continuing an upward trend from 42% in 2023, 37% in 2020, and 9% in 2008. — Pew Research Center

YouTube is now the top platform for listening to podcasts, with 42% of weekly listeners in the U.S. Spotify follows at 15% and Apple Podcasts trails at 7%. — Cumulus Media

Video watching and podcast listening go hand in hand. 24% of weekly podcast consumers in the U.S. prefer audio-only podcasts, while 53% say they watch a video podcast. Another 23% of podcast consumers prefer listening to a podcast while the video plays in the background or minimized. — Cumulus Media

Millennials are the largest podcast demographic in the U.S., representing 33% of the total share. GenZ is close behind at 29% — eMarketer

47% of the Gen Z online population are monthly podcast users, representing about 25 million Americans. — Edison Research

36% of Gen Z weekly podcast listeners use YouTube most often to consume podcasts, and 35% use Spotify most often for podcasts; 28% of Gen Z who have listened to a podcast in the last month discover podcasts most often by searching on YouTube, followed by 26% who use social media posts for podcast suggestions. — Edison Research

Women are underrepresesnted as podcast hosts. Across the top 100 podcasts in 2024, 64.1% of hosts were men and 35.9% of hosts were women. This contrasts with women’s participation in other media—50% of the top 100 films in 2024 had a female lead/co lead, 44.9% of series regulars of the top 100 TV series were female, and 37.7% of popular music artists were female. — USC Annenberg

Women have little presence in business and technology podcasts. In a study of 2024 podcasts, women were most likely to host podcasts in the genres of true crime (53%); arts, society, and culture (43.3%), news (41.2%), and education (40%). Women were least likely to host programs focused on business and technology (7.7%) and sports and fitness (18.9%). — USC Annenberg

Women are underrepresented as podcast guests. Nearly three-quarters of the guests appearing across available episodes in 2024 were men (72.8%) and 27.2% were women. The ratio of men to women guests was 2.7 to 1. — USC Annenberg

SiriusXM Podcast Network, Spotify, and iHeartPodcasts lead U.S. podcast networks for weekly reach. — Edison Research

AI narrates many podcasts, but consumers don’t prefer it. 22% of U.S. weekly podcast consumers 13+ have ever listened to a podcast narrated by an artificially or AI generated voice. However, they prefer narration by a human. — Edison Research

78% of professional podcasters use at least one AI tool in their workflow. — Wondercraft 

For the first time ever, Americans now listen to podcasts (40%) more than talk radio (39%). — Edison Research

Podcast listening is replacing other content consumption activities. Nearly four in ten (39%) weekly podcast listeners say their podcast time is replacing time spent scrolling on social media. 36% say it’s replacing time watching television, and 34% say it’s replacing music streaming. — MRI Simmons

Online audio listening hits new heights. 79% of the U.S. population aged 12+ (roughly 228 million people) listens to online audio monthly, marking an all-time high. — Edison Research

Spotify is most popular for online audio with 25% of Americans listening to Spotify daily. — Edison Research

Business Benefits and Best Practices 

Podcasting can be a brand-building tool, a revenue-generating product, or an effective advertising placement. 

Many users are willing to pay for great audio.  51% of Americans pay for at least one audio subscription. — Edison Research

Podcast ad spending surged in 2025, with a 32% increase in Q4 compared to the same period in 2024. The top 10 podcast advertisers together spent $142 million in Q4 2025. — Magellan AI

Podcast ad revenues continue to rise. Revenues from podcasting in the U.S. hit $2 billion in 2024, doubling the $1 billion in 2021. Revenues are projected to surpass $3.7 billion in 2029. — Interactive Advertising Bureau and eMarketers

Podcasts uniquely offer advertisers sustained attention compared to social media and streaming audio. “When consumers choose podcasts over scrolling or background streaming, they’re opting into something different: longer-form content, trusted hosts, and deeper engagement. That influence drives action.” — Audacy

Ads on podcasts have an impact. 76% of podcast listeners say they have purchased a brand after hearing a podcast host-read advertisement — Audacy

YouTube’s video podcast ads are 18% to 25% less effective than audio downloads at driving purchases. — Oxford Road and Podscribe

Brand-created podcasts tend to fall in one of seven types: Thought leadership, documentary style, narrative brand stories, branded interview shows, branded entertainment series, internal brand, and partnered or co-branded. — Native Advertising Institute

Effective brand-created podcasts form deep engagement. “With their intimate, opt-in nature and long-form storytelling potential, they allow brands to become part of the content itself—rather than an interruption to it. Listeners aren’t reluctantly tolerating brand messaging; they’re actively choosing to engage with it. Native advertising works best when it feels genuine and organic. Podcasts are the place to achieve exactly that—no awkward interruptions, just stories your audience actually wants to hear.” — Native Advertising Institute

Bottom Line

Podcasting not only continues to grow, but it’s emerging as one of the few safe bets in a volatile, and therefore risky, online landscape. So, whether you’re thinking about creating a podcast or investing ad dollars in the space, now is a good time to make a move.