Weekly podcast downloads and audiences trend downward post March 9th while overall growth in downloads and audiences is still positive year-to-date
Lots of people have questions about what’s happening in the podcast space as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds. We were curious as well, so took a look at our data to identify trends. Each week, Podtrac will keep everyone up to date with weekly summaries of download and audience data across all the shows we measure.
Year-To-Date U.S. Weekly Podcast Download and Audience Growth
Download growth since the first week of January is 31% and audience growth is 14% through the week ending March 22, 2020.
Week-Over-Week U.S. Podcast Download and Audience Growth
U.S. podcast downloads decreased 1% during the week ending March 15, 2020 and 2% the week ending March 22 across all Podtrac measured podcasts. U.S. weekly podcast audiences decreased 2% the week ending March 15 and 8% the week ending March 22.
Year-To-Date U.S. Weekly Podcast Download Growth for Top Categories
Across Podtrac measured shows, download growth year-to-date (through March 22) for top podcast categories is: 74% for News, 34% for Comedy, 21% for Sports, 12% for Society & Culture, and -8% for True Crime.
Week-Over-Week U.S. Podcast Download Growth by Category
For Podtrac measured shows, download growth week-over-week for the week ending March 22 compared to the week ending March 15 for top podcast categories is: -1% for News, -5% for Comedy, -5% for Sports, -2% for Society & Culture, and -10% for True Crime.
Year-To-Date U.S. Weekly Podcast Audience Growth for Top Categories
Weekly category audience year-to-date for top podcast categories is: 36% for News, 14% for Comedy, 7% for Sports, 5% for Society & Culture, and -6% for True Crime through the week ending March 22.