Podcasts Account for One-Fifth of Ad-Supported Audio
| RADIO ONLINE | Monday, August 18, 2025 | 3:30pm CT |
|
 Nielsen |
Nielsen has released its latest Podcasting Today report, highlighting continued growth in podcast listening and advertising effectiveness. According to the report, podcasts represent 19% of daily ad-supported audio time among U.S. adults, second only to radio at 64%.
Among younger audiences, the share is even higher-listeners aged 18-34 spend 32% of their daily ad-supported audio time with podcasts. Hispanic listeners also over-index, with 24% of their audio time going to podcasts, compared to 12% among Black listeners.
The report also features Edison Research's Top 50 U.S. podcast rankings for Q2 2025. The top 10 shows based on weekly reach (P13 plus) were:
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Crime Junkie
- The Daily
- Call Her Daddy
- This Past Weekend with Theo Von
- SmartLess
- Dateline NBC
- Stuff You Should Know
- This American Life
- New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
On the advertising front, Nielsen's Podcast Brand Impact Database-built on nearly 2,000 case studies-shows that podcasts consistently deliver strong brand lift. Average campaign results include a 10-point lift in awareness, 8 points in information-seeking, and 6 points in purchase intent. Host-read ads remain particularly effective, with 62% of podcast listeners describing hosts as likeable and 37% calling podcast ads "interesting."
The findings underscore podcasts' growing role in the media landscape, both as a favored platform for younger and diverse audiences and as a reliable driver of advertising impact.
