Podcasting Market Growth & Trends

The global podcasting market size is expected to reach USD 60.50 billion by 2027, expanding at an estimated CAGR of 27.5% from 2020 to 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Over the recent years, podcasts have emerged as the most preferred and interminable source of entertainment with its easy accessibility on smartphones, smart speakers, and other gadgets at any given point of time during commutes or multitasking. Podcast advertising has highly contributed to the market, increasing the end-customer concentration for this industry.

From fiction content for entertainment to news updates to non-fiction genre, the market has insatiable content to intrigue the centennials and millennials for a longer run. The podcast streaming directory is now being timely upgraded with fresh content demanded by the listeners, and these popular genre trends differ for each region, age group, and gender. Furthermore, the podcasting industry is anticipated as a mainstream audio media channel over recent years with the intervention of state-of-the-art technologies in the content publishing practices.

The advent of the internet and smart devices has acted as the force multiplier to the market, with smart speakers emerging as the preferred device to listen to the audio content while simultaneously performing other tasks. We are entering into the stage of listening telemetric, wherein the industry players are emphasizing on offering smarter content and eliminating off-topic tangents to refine the Listener Experience (LX) of their audio content platforms. Furthermore, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies are highly being incorporated in the streaming platforms to determine the preferences of the considerable section of listeners.

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to increased regulations on stepping out of homes and gathering at public places. This outbreak has positively impacted the already fledgling market for podcasts; users opt to listen to streaming channels when performing their household chores or when working from home. While podcast consumption is directly related to commuting behaviors, the shortening of commute times due to less traffic has decreased the listening proportions. However, the podcast industry has attained opportunities due to the unforeseen rise in in-home media consumption during this outbreak.

Podcasting Market Report Highlights

  • News and politics genre dominated the market with over 30.0% of the total revenue share in 2019
  • The solo format is projected to expand at the highest CAGR of over 30.0% from 2020 to 2027
  • With the U.S. at the forefront, the North America market for podcasts accounted for the maximum share in 2019 and is forecasted to retain its dominance over the next seven years
  • The sports genre is anticipated to witness at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period, which can be attributed to the introduction of podcasting for various sports forms in North America and Europe