INFINITE DIAL: PODCAST LISTENING CONTINUES TO RISE • COMMERCIAL PROGRAMMERS WANT NPR’S “SECRET SAUCE”

Last Thursday (3/8) Edison Research and Triton Digital released Infinite Dial 2018 [link], an annual study of digital media consumer behavior in America. 

Conducted since 1998, Infinite Dial is now considered the baseline information regarding the market penetration of various media platforms and devices.

Data in Infinite Dial 2018 was gathered in January and February 2018 from around 2000 people ages 12+ via mobile and landline telephone surveys. There is lots of information in the report, so we are presenting the key findings in specific areas that are of particular interest to noncommercial media folks.

Today we are focusing on podcasts, a sector where NPR and other noncommercial organizations excel. The headline from Infinite Dial 2018 is that the consumption of podcasts continues to grow.

The percentage of Americans who listen to podcasts weekly (17%) is much smaller than the percentage of people who listen to traditional audio sources like terrestrial radio (90%). However, the trend line for podcasts is clearly rising and the enthusiasm of podcast listeners is impressive.

Overall awareness of podcasts continues to rise each year. 

Today’s 64% awareness is roughly double of podcast awareness ten years ago. 

Infinite Dial 2018 says 180 million Americans 12+ are familiar with podcasts.

The percentage of people who say they listen weekly to podcasts has doubled in the past five years. 

According to Infinite Dial 2018, an estimated 48 million people listen to podcasts weekly.

The proportion of people listening to podcasts in vehicles in 2018 (22%) grew 4% from Infinite Dial 2017 (18%).

At home remains the top listening location but the percentage of people listening at home dropped by 3%.

Heavy podcast listeners are listening to even more shows in a typical week. 

The number of people who say they listen to 11 or more podcasts weekly almost doubled between 2017 (8%) and 2018 (14%).

In 2018 the average weekly podcast listener consumed 7 different shows. This is up substantially from 2017 when the average consumed was 5 shows.

The percentage of people who listen to podcasts on a Smartphone, Tablet or Portable device continues to rise. 

Listening to podcasts on a computer continues to drop.

Tomorrow: How terrestrial radio performed in Infinite Dial 2018.

JARL MOHN IS THE TALK OF TALK SHOW BOOTCAMP 9

Jarl Mohn

(Image courtesy of Current) 

NPR CEO Jarl Mohn dropped by the Talk Show Boot Camp, a gathering of commercial radio talk show folks last week in Dallas, and dazzled the crowd with details of the network’s success with listener engagement on multiple platforms.

A frequent theme during the conference was that commercial radio has “been late to the table” with podcasts. One attendee, Ken Charles, PD of KNX AM/FM, Los Angeles, described the situation this way:

“We’re fucked if…we think the AM dial in our future. We must embrace new technology for audio delivery to remain relevant. We need to be there first, something we haven’t done with podcasting.”

Commercial radio consultant and program host Walter Sabo (a/k/a “Walter Sterling”) interviewed Mohn. Sabo asked Mohn how serialized NPR podcasts keep listeners tuned-in. Mohn told attendees “You must reengage with them every 45 seconds” to maintain listening.

Sabo asked Mohn for the recipe for NPR’s “secret sauce.” Mohn chuckled and replied that NPR’s success on all media is top-notch reporting combined with compelling storytelling. 

Asked how NPR develops new podcasts, Mohn said they often begin with segments in existing shows, citing examples such as Hidden Brain and Planet Money. Mohn said NPR’s noted that eight of Podtrac’s top twenty.

Mohn said one of the biggest differences between commercial radio and public radio talk programs is the number of people working on the shows. Mohn said in commercial radio there are usually only one or two people producing programs, compared with as many as 40 people producing and contributing to NPR’s Morning Edition.