The latest Media Technology Monitor (MTM) release, ahead of International Podcast Day this Wednesday, indicates that podcast listening has grown among Canadian Anglophones by more than 50% between fall 2017 and fall 2019.
MTM’s research says public transit and walking commuters are more likely to listen to podcasts than those who drive or don’t commute. The finding supports a slight drop in podcast use this past spring during the COVID-19 lockdown.
MTM also says that podcast listeners are more likely to be audiophiles, and in particular, users of online audio like music streaming services, YouTube and AM/FM radio streams.
In terms of audio discoverability, MTM found that listeners tend to find out about new podcasts mostly by word-of-mouth. More than two in five listen to new podcast content based on recommendations from friends, family, and colleagues. Social media is the second most popular discovery method, followed by recommendations from podcast apps.
Looking at French speakers, MTM found that one in six Francophones listens to podcasts. Although growing in popularity in the French-speaking market, podcasting still lags behind other forms of online audio content such as YouTube Music and other music streaming services, as well as online AM/FM radio.
Francophone podcast listeners are also twice as likely to use music streaming services, compared to the average Francophone.
Based on 12,000 telephone interviews annually (including a cellphone-only sample), MTM has spoken with over 140,000 Canadians (equally split between Anglophones and Francophones) over the past decade.
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