Media Monitors Report: COVID-19's Impact on Podcasting

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Media Monitors

Media Monitors has added a selection of COVID and trust-in-media related questions to its recent second quarter Podcast Listener Survey. News is the second largest category in its Q2 Podcast Listener Survey (tied with Society & Culture). With the popularity of the category and the surge of pandemic-related podcasts, the firm began by asking respondents: Do you use podcasts as a source for COVID-19 or pandemic-related information?

Of its 985 respondents, 45% (442) responded that podcasts were either their "primary source" of information about COVID-19, or that "podcasts help supplement other information sources" about the disease. While 32% of respondents said they primarily use podcasts as purely "entertainment," 18% of respondents indicated that they used podcasts to consume other non-pandemic related news and information.

23% of listeners using podcasts as a source for news about COVID-19 did not use podcasts as a source of need-to-know information prior to the pandemic. Only 3% of respondents listed podcasts as Less or Much Less Trustworthy, while 60% said podcasts were More or Much More Trustworthy compared to traditional media coverage of the pandemic.

In a separate question, 65% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "Podcasting is a medium well-suited to provide important, detailed information in a timely manner" whereas only 13% disagreed.

Podcasting shows continued growth despite the unpredictable nature of the pandemic. According to the IAB, "2020 US podcast advertising revenue [is] expected to increase by 14.7% despite COVID-19."

Further proof of podcasting's resilience can be seen in iHeartMedia's report, "Digital revenue continues to show healthy growth, driven by its leading podcasting business... " A glance at the other large players in podcasting seems to confirm the sentiment, with the recent move by The New York Times to acquire Serial Productions, SiriusXM's move to buy Simplecast and Stitcher/Midroll, and Spotify's announcement that Joe Rogan will become a Spotify Exclusive by the end of the year.