Ofcom survey shows podcasts are here to stay
It is estimated there will be 28 million podcast listeners by 2026
How often, if at all, do you listen to any of the following?
THE end of lockdowns and social distancing has not caused UK listeners to give up on podcasts - with one in four now regularly tuning in. Listeners have been downloading podcasts with increasing regularity over the last few years, but the isolation forced on many people during the pandemic saw even more people tuning in.
Figures from Statistica show that as of 2021, there were 19.1 million listeners of podcasts in the UK, with estimates of growth to over 28 million listeners by 2026.
Now, a new survey published by Ofcom shows that one in four people in the UK (25%) listen to podcasts at least once a week in 2022, while about one in 13 (8%) listen to podcasts several times a week and even more, one in 10 (10%), tune in at least once a day.
That is the same proportion as last year and shows that even as people have been able to return to offices and reunite with friends and family, they have continued to download and stream their favourite podcasts.
Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown and co-presenter of Switch Your Money On podcast, said: “Podcasts have entered the mainstream. We’re now more likely to listen to podcasts than to listen to CDs, and 19.1 million listen every week.
“Whatever your passion or interest, someone will offer the perfect listen for you, and that goes for investments as well as everything else.”
The number of regular listeners of podcasts rises to 30% among men and compared to 21% among women.
People aged between 25 to 34 are most likely to consume podcasts, with 46% listening regularly, compared to 40% of younger people aged 18 to 24, 36% of the older 35 to 44 demographic, and just 19% of 45 and 54-year-olds.
Podcasts are most popular in
Scotland, where 34% of listeners have embraced the medium, outpacing England (25%), Wales (26%) and Northern Ireland (19%).
Almost half of listeners (48%) said they picked a podcast because they wanted to learn something new or improve their understanding of something, while one in four (26%) listen for practical advice.
More than a quarter (26%) said they had listened to the radio less as a result of discovering podcasts.
But radio remains the most popular audio medium, with 38% of people surveyed by Ofcom tuning in to music stations on a daily basis and 64% every week.
That compares to 29% who choose their daily soundtrack via streaming services, 20% who listen to downloaded music on their smartphone or mp3 player, and 20% who tune into a talk radio station.
Only 10% of the population now listen to their own music collection every day on CD, vinyl, and cassette combined - the same proportion as the UK’s growing number of avid daily listeners of podcasts.