YouTube’s Growth As A Podcast Power Player Revealed In Cumulus Media And Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download – Spring 2024 Report
Click here to view a 12-minute video of the key findings.
YouTube is America’s primary podcast destination.
In 2021, YouTube was the third most accessed destination for podcasts. In 2022, it tied Spotify as the platform used most among weekly podcast listeners. Now across three studies in 2023 and 2024, YouTube has pulled away from the pack and leads as the most used podcast audience platform in the U.S.
For the twelfth edition of the Podcast Download series, Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights retained MARU/Matchbox to conduct an in-depth study of 603 weekly podcast consumers from April 19-24, 2024. Two studies are conducted annually. The Spring 2024 Report highlights trends from prior studies and examines topics such as platform preference, content trends, perceptions of brand safety and content appropriateness, and more.
Liz Mayer, Insights Manager of the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group®, and Paul Riismandel, Chief Insights Officer and Partner of Signal Hill Insights, conducted an extensive analysis of the Podcast Download consumer study.
Key takeaways:
- YouTube is the most utilized podcast listening platform in the U.S.: 31% say it is the platform they use the most, followed by Spotify (21%) and Apple (12%)
- YouTube is used most among Podcast Newcomers, Podcast Pioneers, and heavy podcast consumers
- YouTube podcast audience profile: Male and younger than the Apple Podcasts audience
- As the world’s entertainment search engine, YouTube is the dominant podcast discovery platform where audiences are more likely to find podcasts
- Those who discover a podcast on YouTube say they stick with the platform for video, comments, community, entertainment, recommendations, and platform features
- However, the YouTube podcast audience is not exclusively tied to the platform
- Watching and listening to podcasts are equally favored
- Podcast Newcomers are more likely to prefer actively watching podcast videos; Those who began listening to podcasts 4+ years ago favor the audio-only experience
- YouTube dominates association as the platform where podcasts can be watched and heard
- Not all genres work for watchable podcasts: Consumers who prefer to watch are more likely to like News/Current Events and Sports podcasts; Among those who prefer to listen, True Crime is the leading podcast genre
- The vast majority of the Apple and Spotify platform audience uses the smartphone, while 38% of YouTube’s podcast audience uses laptops and TV
Those who only watch podcasts are 9% of the weekly podcast audience
Given that video is becoming a growing podcast tuning option, the definition of podcast consumption was expanded in the April 2022 study. Since then, those who only watch podcasts have been accepted into the Podcast Download survey of the weekly podcast audience.
The inclusion of those who only watch podcasts expanded the podcast consumer universe. Over the five studies in the last two years, an average of 10% of the weekly podcast audience only consume podcasts via “watching.”
YouTube is the most utilized podcast listening platform in the U.S.: 31% say it is the platform they use the most, followed by Spotify (21%) and Apple (12%)
Two-thirds of weekly podcast listeners consider the “big three” as their most preferred podcast platform.
A tale of three studies: At 34%, Triton’s Digital Podcast Metrics study also finds YouTube is the number one “used most” podcast platform
Signal Hill Insights powers the Demo+ survey for Triton’s Podcast Metrics service. Their Q1 2024 survey also found YouTube was “used most” for podcast consumption at 34%, validating the Podcast Download data. According to Triton, Spotify is a stronger number two platform.
Edison’s “Podcast Metrics” Q1 2024 report reveals Spotify (29%) edges out YouTube (27%) as the most used podcast platform.
YouTube is used most among Podcast Newcomers, Podcast Pioneers, and heavy podcast consumers
YouTube is the number one “used most” platform among:
- Heavy podcast consumers (those who spend 6+ hours in the past week)
- Podcast Newcomers who began with podcasts in the last year
- Podcast Pioneers who started consuming podcasts 4 or more years ago
New podcasts listeners mostly enter through the YouTube/Spotify door: Since 2019, YouTube and Spotify have been growing among Podcast Newcomers at the expense of Apple Podcasts
YouTube podcast audience profile: Male and younger
Spotify skews young. Apple skews to Podcast Pioneers.
As the world’s entertainment search engine, YouTube is the dominant podcast discovery platform
Nearly one-third of the weekly podcast audience indicate YouTube was where they started listening to a new podcast. 24% say Spotify is where they found the new podcast. 12% indicate Apple Podcasts is where they started listening to a new podcast.
Those who discover a podcast on YouTube say they stick with the platform for video, comments, community, entertainment, recommendations, and platform features
Yet the YouTube podcast audience is not exclusively tied to the platform
53% of those who listen to/watch podcasts on YouTube say they consume the same podcasts on other platforms.
If a podcast were to become exclusive on a platform outside of YouTube, 73% of the YouTube audience say they would use the new platform to listen to/watch the show.
Watching and listening to podcasts are equally favored
- 36% prefer the audio-only experience
- 33% say they like actively watching a podcast
- 31% indicate they prefer listening to a podcast while the video is minimized or playing in the background
Podcast Newcomers are more likely to prefer actively watching podcast videos; Those who began listening to podcasts 4+ years ago favor the audio-only experience
YouTube dominates association as the platform where podcasts can be watched and heard
While Spotify and Apple’s expanded access to video provides more choice to consumers, the two platforms have a lot of work to do to build their perception for a visual podcast experience.
Not all genres work for watchable podcasts: Consumers who prefer to watch are more likely to like Music and Sports podcasts
Watchable podcasts aren’t a perfect fit for every genre. While those who prefer the video experience seek out News/Current Events and Sports podcasts, the audio-only experience is preferred by those who are True Crime fans.
Devices used: Edison Podcast Metrics reports Apple/Spotify users favor the smartphone; 38% of YouTube podcast audience use laptops/TV
Edison’s Podcast Metrics study queries the podcast audience on the device they use most to consume podcasts. The YouTube audience is much more likely to use visual devices to consume podcasts.
17% of the YouTube podcast audience use a TV the most. 21% use a computer/laptop most.
Key takeaways:
- YouTube is the most utilized podcast listening platform in the U.S.: 31% say it is the platform they use the most, followed by Spotify (21%) and Apple (12%)
- YouTube is used most among Podcast Newcomers, Podcast Pioneers, and heavy podcast consumers
- YouTube podcast audience profile: Male and younger than the Apple Podcasts audience
- As the world’s entertainment search engine, YouTube is the dominant podcast discovery platform where audiences are more likely to find podcasts
- Those who discover a podcast on YouTube say they stick with the platform for video, comments, community, entertainment, recommendations, and platform features
- The YouTube podcast audience is not exclusively tied to the platform
- Watching and listening to podcasts are equally favored
- Podcast Newcomers are more likely to prefer actively watching podcast videos; Those who began listening to podcasts 4+ years ago favor the audio-only experience
- YouTube dominates association as the platform where podcasts can be watched and heard
- Not all genres work for watchable podcasts: Consumers who prefer to watch are more likely to like News/Current Events and Sports podcasts; Among those who prefer to listen, True Crime is the leading podcast genre
- The vast majority of the Apple and Spotify platform audience uses the smartphone, while 28% of YouTube’s podcast audience uses laptops and TV
Click here to view a 12-minute video of the key findings.
Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer of the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group®.
Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.