The emergence of video podcasts has pushed podcast consumption into the mainstream, according to the latest Infinite Dial survey from Edison Research.
The Infinite Dial is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behaviour, tracking usage of radio, streaming audio, podcasting and social media.
The latest survey, which was in field in January, encompassed a national sample of 5,020 Americans, age 12+, with over 1,000 surveyed by telephone and more than 4,000 online. The data is weighted to the U.S. population.
Online Audio
This year’s survey finds that overall listening to online audio, including streaming of AM/FM radio, podcasts, and music streaming, is at an all-time high, continuing to increase with 79% or 228 million Americans listening monthly, up from 76% in 2024. By age, 90% of those 12-34 are listening online, 87% of those 35-54, and 63% of those age 55+, up significantly year-over-year.
On a weekly basis, 73% of Americans, 12+ are listening online, up from 70% last year.
Spotify leads brand awareness at 87%, followed by Pandora (84%), and Apple Music, which tied with Amazon Music and YouTube Music for third place at 77%.
Spotify dominates as the online audio brand used most often at 34%, 12+, rising among those 12-34 to 47%.
Podcasting
When it comes to podcast listening, as of Q4 2024, Edison says 34% of weekly listeners are choosing YouTube to listen to podcasts, followed by Spotify (26%) and Apple Podcasts (14%)
Podcast listening showed impressive growth in this year’s survey, driven in part, by a move by Edison to include both audio and video podcast consumption data.
According to this year’s Infinite Dial, 73% or 250 million Americans, 12 and older, have ever consumed a podcast, either in audio or video form.
Fifty-five per cent of the U.S. population, 12+, are now monthly podcast consumers, an estimated 158 million consumers. On a listening vs. watching basis, 48% of respondents said they had listened to a podcast in the last month, while 37% answered ‘yes’ to watching a podcast.
Radio futurologist and PodNews publisher James Cridland, who co-hosted this year’s Infinite Dial livestream, was quick to point out that audio is still the big number.
“Audio podcasts give your ears something to enjoy while your eyes are busy doing other things,” said Cridland. “And that’s a real benefit to audiences, and we need to be really careful not to ruin that.”
“More people now consume podcasts than don’t consume podcasts, which means I think we can now officially claim finally, that podcast consumption is mainstream,” said Cridland. “Podcasting is a mainstream media. It’s official.”
Due to a strong male video podcast base, the survey shows podcast consumption was higher among men than women, with 57% of men reporting monthly podcast consumption versus 52% of women. By age, 66% of those 12-34 are monthly podcast consumers, up from 59% in 2024. Sixty-one per cent of those 35-54 reported monthly consumption, up from 55% last year, with more significant gains among those aged 55 and older, rising from 27% last year to 38% this year. By political affiliation, a bump in Republican listeners continued with 53% of those who identify as a Democrat consuming a podcast in the last month vs. 56% who identified as Republican.
Weekly listening saw 40% of the U.S. population, 12+, report consuming a podcast in the last week, a one point gain over 2024 (35% listening vs. 26% watching).
In-car audio
This year’s survey solidified the increasing digitization of the in-car listening experience. While AM/FM radio is still used by 74% of those 18+ monthly, 55% are using online audio and 31% accessing podcasts while driving or riding.
By age, those 55+ over index on using linear media in-car, leading AM/FM listening at 84%, followed by those 35-54 at 78%. Among drivers and passengers, 18-34, online audio overtakes AM/FM (82% vs. 54%).
The number of drivers with access to an integrated system is also up sharply, from 32 to 40%. Those with a vehicle equipped with Apple CarPlay moves from 23 to 28%, with Android Auto cited by 19% of drivers surveyed, up from 16%.
Social Media
Social media usage jumped from 82 to 86% of Americans year-over-year, the first movement in the category in five years.
Facebook leads social media brand usage at 66%, followed by Instagram (48%), TikTok (34%), Pinterest (31%), LinkedIn (29%), Snapchat (27%), Reddit (26%), and X (22%)
Elon Musk’s X, which lost 22 million users last year, actually experienced a small rebound, up from 19% in 2024, largely driven by Republican users.
With the survey in field around the time the American ban on TikTok was set to take effect on Jan. 19, Edison put the question to users as to which platform they would shift their time to in the event of an app shutdown. It solidly identified Meta brands, Instagram and Facebook, as the winners, with 39% of monthly TikTok users indicating Instagram would become their platform of choice.
Other insights from this year’s Infinite Dial include an increase in smart TV ownership, which jumped from 72 to 75% of Americans. Smart speaker ownership was up just one point to 35%, with those reporting listening to audio on a smart speaker in the past month also up one point from 21 to 22%. Those listening in the past week moved from 17 to 18% year-over-year.
This year’s survey also noted that audiobook listening fell over the last year from 38 to 36%.
