Why people stop listening to podcasts

Why do people listen to podcasts? Caila Litman shares data in this week’s Sounds Profitable with Claritas, in the monthly Good Data feature. You should have subscribed by now. :)

Sep 13 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• The UK media regulator Ofcom has published the results of its UK podcast survey 2022. Ofcom just published the data in a big spreadsheet with 30,000 rows, so we should all be grateful to Adam Bowie for looking at the data. It says that 25% of Brits listen to podcasts each month - the same figure as reported in Edison Research’s Infinite Dial UK, and unchanged year-on-year.

  • The most popular reason to stop listening to a podcast is “I couldn’t find any that interest me”, with “I don’t have enough time” a close second.
  • Spotify is the clear leader for “apps and websites used to listen to podcasts” - in terms of people, with 41% of respondents claiming to use it. BBC Sounds and YouTube are #2 and #3, with Apple Podcasts at #4 with 23%.

• Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, is apparently to leave Spotify, says Bloomberg. As first reported in Business Insider in early February, the Obamas reportedly found it difficult to get their ideas for shows accepted by Spotify management - and Spotify declined to renew. They continue to look for a renewal partner.

  • Spotify has done an exclusive ad deal with The Fantasy Footballers, pulling it away from last year’s deal with Audioboom. The podcast also had a deal with SiriusXM for a live show, which no longer appears on their schedule. The deal also signs them up for additional shows on Spotify Greenroom Live, extending a deal done in August. The podcast isn’t going to be a Spotify exclusive.

• Podcast Movement is hosting a set of sessions at the NAB Show in Las Vegas next week. There’s also a meet-up (“drinks, networking and fun”) - register here.

• The nominations have been announced for the CrimeCon CLUE Awards. Podcast nominations are Body Bags (CrimeOnline and iHeartPodcasts), Crime Show (Spotify’s Gimlet), Disappearances (Spotify’s Parcast), My Life of Crime (CBS News Radio), and Stolen: The Search for Jermain (Spotify’s Gimlet). The awards will take place on Saturday Apr 30 in the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, in the library, with a lead pipe.

• Nick Quah notes the return of Reply All’s PJ Vogt in Crypto Island. “The straightforwardness of his return gives me pause,” he says.

• Buzzsprout is looking for a YouTube Platform Specialist to join their team. (It’s for the Buzzsprout YouTube channel, though, rather than YouTube’s wider podcasting ambitions.)

• The New Zealand Podcast Ranker has been published. New Zealand-made podcasts at the top of the charts are all republished radio shows; the highest native podcast, Between Two Beers, is #21. Total downloads for March were 6.8m, down from February’s 7.3m. The ranker lists participating publishers only, and doesn’t list public broadcaster RNZ.

• In Manchester, UK, Crowd Network is celebrating hitting 10 million downloads since launch. The company is now reaching over a million downloads each month.

• Afripods is a new podcast host that says it’s “the easiest way to host, promote and listen to African podcasts”. You can start your podcast for free, or publish your RSS feed on their platform.

• The Maonocaster E2 is a new audio interface for one XLR microphone, with sound pads, sound effects and reverb.

• Podcast ad company A Million Ads highlights its work with binaural podcast advertising: running “3D immersive audio” ads for a hay fever treatment, calibrated to pollen levels last year.

Podcast News - with Acast

From Acast: Anna Faris Is Unqualified promises “relationship advice from completely unqualified Hollywood types”. David Duchovny was a recent guest, talking about the movie they recently finished together, being intimidated by raw talent, his love of music, the challenges of writing, dealbreakers, what defines a good kiss, words to live by and much more.

Best Laid Plans is an audio documentary series that speaks to successful creatives from a variety of fields about the moments in their careers that required a sharp pivot, a compromise, or a comeback when things didn’t go as planned. From the the creators of The Polybius Conspiracy, it’s launched today.

What’s worth watching on telly? If your TV channel choices include the RTÉ from your Sky box, then GoLoud Selects is for you, looking at the best in television, podcasts, movies and more from Ireland and abroad to bring you the ultimate entertainment experience. It’s new from GoLoud, and sponsored by Sky.

Backstage Talk has joined the Broadway Podcast Network, and returned for season three. Hosted by Colombian performing artist Martín Acuña, it focuses on Latinx voices in musical theatre, and many of the episodes this season will be in both English and Spanish.