1.
METHODOLOGY AND GLOSSARY
• Between May 30 – Jul 6, 2019, 1,008 U.S. adults 18 or older completed a web survey about their podcast
and audiobook streaming habits and preferences.All participants were required to stream either podcasts
or audiobooks.
• Audiobook streaming refers to in-app (non-CD or physical media) audiobook listening
• Comscore data is comprised of 193M UniqueVisitors to US mobile apps per month for the months between Jan
2018 & May 2019
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PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019

2.
Podcast & Audiobooks: Key Findings
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019
• Podcast listenership sees strong growth, and listeners are heavily engaged with podcasts
• New podcasts are being discovered primarily through online blogs and articles
• Millennials are the largest consumers of podcasts, but they’re becoming more popular with Generation Z
• Comedy, education, and true crime top the preferred genre list
• Advertising on podcasts is an effective way to reach a relevant customer base, with 25% of listeners
purchasing a product they discovered through a podcast ad
• Podcast listeners stream more audiobooks than non-podcast listeners
• Audiobooks aren’t replacing physical books, with 74% of audiobook streamers also reading physical books

3.
Podcast Listenership Sees Strong Growth
• Podcast mobile app usage increased
in 2018 and into 2019, seeing a 60%
increase in users since January 2018*
• A quarter of current podcast listeners
started listening to podcasts in the
past 6 months
• This growth trend should continue,
with 45% of listeners planning to
listen to more podcasts in the future
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019
* Comscore Mobile Metrix®, Mobile App Only, Custom defined category of Podcast apps, Custom-metric that takes the Comscore Unique
Visitors for each month from January 2018 - May 2019 and divides it by the baseline monthof January 2018, United States

4.
Podcast Perception and Discovery
Listeners are discovering new podcasts
primarily through online sources like blogs and
articles, while coworker recommendations rank
lowest
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019
The majority of podcast listeners believe
the quality of podcasts is increasing

5.
Who is Listening to Podcasts, andWhere?
• Over half of listeners listen to podcasts on the way to work or while
working
• Millennials listen to the most podcasts on average, with nearly a third
listening to 5 or more podcasts in a week, but podcast usage and
interest is becoming more popular among Generation Z - 67% plan to
listen to more podcasts in the next year
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019

6.
Preferences in Podcasts
• Comedy podcasts are the most
preferred type of podcast, followed
by educational and true crime
• No matter the subject, the majority
of listeners prefer podcasts be no
longer than an hour
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019

7.
Divide in Podcast Advertising Effectiveness
• Podcasts are proving to be an effective platform for advertising
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019

8.
Podcast Ads Preferred Over Other Formats
• Of the 72% of podcast
listeners who’ve heard an ad
while listening to a podcast,
1/3 find the ads to be more
engaging than ads on other
formats
• Additionally, 40% find the
ads to be less intrusive than
other types of ads
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019

9.
The Podcast-Audiobook Crossover
• Podcast listeners stream
more audiobooks than non-
podcast listeners, but prefer
audiobooks over podcasts
while participating in longer
activities, like on airplanes,
road trips, or vacation
• 58% of audiobook streamers
listened to podcasts before
streaming audiobooks
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019

10.
Audiobooks Don’t Replace Physical Books
• Streaming audiobooks doesn’t always replace reading physical books – 74% of audiobook streamers also
read books regularly
• Nearly half of audiobook streamers choose audiobooks because they don’t have time to read books, and
77% say they listen to audiobooks to stay occupied while doing mundane activities
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS | Jul 2019