Almost a quarter of Americans sometimes get news from podcasts, according to a survey by Pew Research Center.
Which was a surprise to me.
Lately, I’ve been intrigued with how people consume podcasts, primarily because I’ve discovered so many podcast episodes are inaccessible.
Due to lack of transcripts.
As someone who prefers the written word, I only consume podcast content via transcripts. Since mid-year 2021, I’ve focused on getting more content from podcasts.
But my efforts have been disappointing as I discover interesting podcasts I can’t consume. Because of lack of transcripts.
Which is why I was interested in the results of the Pew Research Center’s survey conducted in summer 2021.
Two interesting findings from the survey stood out for me:
- Only 7% of Americans often get news from a podcast, while 16% say they sometimes get news from podcasts
- More than half of Americans, 56%, never get news from podcasts
In their survey results, Pew commented the findings suggest there is growth potential for podcast growth for news.
Released in September 2021, the Pew Research Center report is based on a survey of 11,178 adults conducted July 26, 2021 to August 8, 2021.
The report is the latest in the Pew Research Center’s ongoing American Trends Panel (which started in 2014).
Key Takeaways
- Younger adults are more likely to turn to podcasts for news
- 33% of adults aged 18 to 29 at least sometimes get news from podcasts, while only 12% of adults 65 or older do
- Less than 1/3 of adults aged 30 to 49 (29%) get news from podcasts at least sometimes while 18% of adults aged 30 to 49 do the same
- Adults with some college (25%) or a college degree (28%) are more likely to get news at least sometimes from podcasts, compared to adults with a high school education or less (17%)
- Little difference in men and women getting news from podcasts (25% for men, 21% for women)
- Similarly, there is little different across racial and ethnic groups. For adults who at least sometimes get news from podcast: Whites at 23%, Blacks at 22%, Hispanics at 24%, Asian at 24%
- Political affiliation shows little difference in getting news from podcasts: Republicans (or lean toward Republican party) at 23%, Democrats (or lean toward Democratic party) at 24%
Summary
While few American adults are now getting news from podcasts, Pew believes there is growth potential for the podcast platform in regards to news.
Their survey results show that younger adults as well as adults with higher education are more likely to at least sometimes gets news from podcasts.
My opinion: podcasts are growing as a content platform for news. Producers of news podcasts will need to develop strategies to overcome the age difference in their listeners.
Without providing transcripts for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and others who comprehend better with the written word, podcast producers are ignoring a huge percentage of their potential audience.
Whether it’s a news-focused podcast, or not.
Did any of the survey results surprise you?
