Podcasts of all types have been growing in popularity over the past few years. Specifically, since 2018, podcast usage overall has grown to 34%. However, when we look at news podcasts, a growing channel on its own, the growth is more gradual. Why might this be?

There are two reasons, one of which is not specific to only news. There is a lack of data around who and what is being consumed across countries with a major lack of publicly available measurements. For news, other categories like business, technology, and lifestyle also cover news topics, which makes defining news consumption difficult.

Regardless, news organisations around the world are investing in podcasts. There are already some great examples of how successful they can be and specifically use cases for personalisation with podcast applications.

Let’s start by reviewing the information found by Reuters in its latest Digital News Report for 2023.

Audience

Let’s take a look at some key traits of podcast listeners from the 20 countries with established podcast industries that Reuters surveyed.

Young and tech-savvy: The majority of podcast audiences, around 56%, fall within the 18-24 age group. This younger demographic is highly engaged with digital content, spending significant time on their phones.

Preference for audio: Younger listeners, in particular, have a preference for consuming news content through audio platforms. They enjoy listening to podcasts as background noise during daily activities like commuting, working out, or doing mundane tasks.

Balanced gender distribution: The gender distribution among podcast listeners is fairly balanced, with 37% male and 30% female. This presents an opportunity to create content that appeals to both genders.

Regional variations: The United States has the highest podcast consumption rate at 19%, while France and the United Kingdom have relatively lower rates at 9% and 8%, respectively. This difference could be attributed to the availability and diversity of podcast productions, as well as effective monetisation strategies in the United States.

Accessibility for newcomers: The podcasting industry has a low barrier to entry, allowing younger generations to enter the scene with fresh perspectives and innovative content. This has contributed to the overall growth and vitality of the podcasting landscape.

Types of podcasts for news

When examining all of the different news podcasts that exist, they can be classified into one of four categories:

• News round-ups: Updates on multiple stories in quick succession.
• Deep dive/explanatory: Examining one or two subjects in detail using a narrative style.
• Documentary: Narrative style series; multiple episodes on the same topic.
• Extended chat: Round-table discussions; informal and personality-led.

When respondents in the 20 countries were asked about what kind of news and current affairs podcasts they listen to, extended chats with big personalities, like Joe Rogan, are mentioned often, as are deep dives such as The Daily from The New York Times. News rounds-ups are also popular, as they fit easily into morning or evening routines.

Country-specific takeaways

When looking at the 20 countries surveyed, there were some very interesting takeaways. Some countries had a few big shows that dominated the responses with a very long tail of shows afterward, and some were more evenly distributed.

The United States and United Kingdom (with the exception of Joe Rogan), tend to favour locally created content. In Australia, however, 46% of the most listened-to podcasts come from outside Australia. This is even higher in Canada and Ireland, where 50% of shows are from outside those countries.

France and Spain tend to repackage their radio shows as podcasts, which perform better than those created by publications; 48% of the top podcasts in Spain fit in this repurposing category. However, there is some disruption happening, with examples from Les Echos and Le Monde in France.

In general, large countries have a hard time competing against tech platforms like YouTube and TikTok. In the majority of countries, Spotify is the dominant platform for podcasts. However, in the United States, the dominant platform is YouTube. This reflects how video podcasts are growing in relevance, not only for the monetisation potential and reach that YouTube provides, but also by using video clips for social media to reach a broader audience.

Examples beyond The Daily

At this point, the majority of podcast users are familiar with The Daily from The New York Times. However, another great example of the power of combining types of podcasts is One Podcast, created by GEDI Gruppo Editoriale SpA. One Podcast combines editorial content from the mobile applications of its top news brands like La Stampa and Republicca, international podcasts in Italian, local radio stations, and music mixes.

Understanding the need to capitalise on this audience in a meaningful way is what brought the company to look at how to implement personalisation on this platform. It implemented Froomle modules for its general podcast recommendations and autoplay recommendations after an episode is finished. With all One Podcast users receiving Froomle recommendations, daily click-through rates range from 7% to 10%.

Conclusion

Even though podcast consumption is growing, the size of the audience is not expected to match the amount of content being produced. Now more than ever, it’s important to produce high-quality content with a strong format and engaging hosts.

For publications that are venturing a step further into creating an application or platform, incorporating personalisation can help to increase session length and create an even stronger and relevant user experience for your audience. It will be a channel to keep an eye on for years to come.

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