Massive, and growing, size of US podcasting revealed
A new metric for the industry
Exclusive: Americans are spending over three-quarters of a billion hours with podcasts each week, according to new data released to Podnews from Edison Research today.
The data, from the well-regarded Share of Ear study from Edison Research, shows that time spent with podcasts has increased from 170 million hours a week in 2015 to an astonishing 773 million hours per week today. Over the last ten years, that’s a +355% increase in time spent with podcasts across the US.
Gabriel Soto, Senior Director of Research at Edison Research, told Podnews: “The aggregation of time spent with podcasts across U.S. consumers is a core metric that illustrates the growth of podcasting, and this increasing consumption means more opportunities for advertisers to reach audiences more effectively. As podcasting gains more share of ear, this new way of looking at the data shows that podcasting should be top of mind for marketers wanting to gain an intimate connection with prospective buyers.”
The data currently suggests that every consumer of podcasts spends on average 7.7 hours with them every week.
Share of Ear® is a quarterly diary survey, conducted by Edison Research since 2014. It is the only survey in the US to provide analysis of all audio consumption.
Edison Research also produces the Podcast Consumer, a study helping us understand who is listening to podcasting, which uses data from the Infinite Dial, Share of Ear, and Edison Podcast Metrics. A free webinar on Jul 24 will unveil 2025’s figures for the first time.
Opinion
As we regularly report in Podnews, the total number of people consuming podcasts continues to increase, with 55% of Americans aged 12+ spending time with a podcast every month: but that’s only half the story, because the time that Americans are spending with podcasts is also vitally important for the industry.
The total reach figure - with the majority of Americans now consuming a podcast at least once a month - is impressive, and shows that podcasting has reached the mainstream.
But podcasting’s success isn’t just measured by total audience: it’s also measured by time with the medium.
Total time with podcasting is a helpful metric which helps us understand the quality of podcasts, and demonstrates our ability to get listeners consuming podcasts for longer.
This number helps us grow financially
We can either sell more ads into existing shows: but some data suggests that the number of ads in podcasts has grown by 20% in just twelve months, and publishers (and listeners) may feel that some shows may already be over-saturated.
Or, we can increase the amount of podcasting that people consume. Double the time spent with podcasts, and we double the available advertising without changing the way shows sound.
This number helps us tell our growth story
We can’t assume that we will get ever-increasing numbers in terms of “total people”, much though we’d like to continue reporting those increases in Podnews. Podcasting is already reaching the majority of Americans every month. That number will continue to grow; but inevitably, growth will slow.
Yet, where we can continue to show growth - for many years to come - is the time people spend with podcasting. A total “time spent” number communicates both the number of people podcasting reaches, and the time they spend with podcasting.
A weekly figure, rather than a monthly one, allows for comparison with other media; and avoids comparing months with 28 days vs 31 days, or months with five weekends vs ones with four. It communicates confidence in our industry to lead with a figure for seven days.
The weekly time spent per person - currently 7.7 hours - may go down as well as up: if we attract more people to podcasting, those people will inevitably spend less time with it than more dedicated podcast fans. This 7.7 number is a helpful metric for those inside the industry: to help us understand how better to market and grow our industry.
An overall figure - 773 million hours a week in 2025 - tells our story: our growth both in reach but also in individual consumption. Given a healthy industry, and a clear definition of podcasting, it’s a number that should continue to tell the story of continued growth for many years to come.
