The latest RAJAR results are out in the UK. RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and they measure radio audiences in the UK.
They also, every now and then, release a MIDAS report (Measurement of Internet Delivered Audio Services) which looks at the audience of digital audio content which includes podcasts.
The last release was Summer 2022 and today they’ve launched the Spring 2023 results which as seen an increase in podcast listening in the UK, and quite a big increase.
Back in Summer 2022 podcasts had a reach of around 19% of Adults over 15. The latest survey sees this rise to 23%, a pretty big increase.
There’s also been a huge increase in how many hours of podcasts we listen to. Back in Summer 2022 we listened to around 59 million hours of podcasts, this has risen to 91 million hours. Huge increase!
Other notable stats include the average podcast listener listens to between 1 and 3 episodes a week and word of mouth is how most podcasts are discovered.
I think this trend will continue as major broadcasters make podcasting easier to digest and more mainstream. The BBC has put a lot of effort into podcasting over the last few years and I’m sure this effort reflects in the stats.
I think we can safely say most folks now know what a podcast is. They don’t need it explained, which is great for the industry as a whole.
Download the latest MIDAS report here.
Podcasts are a great way to connect with clients and staff.