Survey Update: Podcasting use by 12-34 year olds Up.

Based on interviews with radio listeners in ten national markets*, Bridge Ratings released its monthly update of podcast use. Phone interviews were conducted with members of the Bridge Ratings Podcast Panel to measure their use of podcasts over time. This is an on-going study of podcast users 12-64 years of age who use traditional radio.

The following chart displays responses from the sample and the question: “Have You Listened to a Podcast in the Last 30 Days?” The chart compares May responses to previous responses from January, March and April 2006 and from July 2005.

Over the course of this latest study (April 15 – May 12) 30,000 national phone interviews were conducted by Bridge Ratings. The podcast universe panel used in these studies represents only 8% of this total sample, i.e. we project that approximately 8% (2400) of the 12-64 year olds interviewed were podcast users during this timeframe.

In general, the study indicates a continuing overall reduction in the number of people 12 + who have listened to a podcast in the last 30 days, although podcast use for 12-34 year olds has rebounded since our last study in April. Use among those 35 + continues to slow.

Bridge Ratings continues to monitor podcast use over time. One way users are tracked is through the use of panels or groups of users who are interviewed over time in order to record consistent use patterns among identical samples.

There was significantly less podcast use among the older demographic (35-64)during this period.

An interesting element of this study showed that while the younger group mentioned a higher use of podcasts over the previous 30 days, the older group (35-64) reported a higher frequency of listening to the podcast “catalogue” they did listen to compared to their younger (12-34) counterparts.

A podcast catalogue is defined as different podcasts from the same producer, i.e. a daily podcast from ABC News is counted as 1 podcast catalogue containing 5 different podcasts and has been subscribed to once. Compare this to a weekly or even monthly podcast from the same producer. We are finding the older demographic more frequently listens to an individual catalogue, but have fewer such catalogues or podcasts they download in a given month. Conversely, the younger podcast user, in general, subscribes more often and downloads more different unique podcast content.

The study reveals that two different metrics define the podcast user universe: Weekly users and those that have ever downloaded and listened to a podcast.

The study shows that currently approximately 20% of users who have ever downloaded and listened to a podcast do so on a weekly basis. This group downloads an average of five podcasts per week and spends approximately three-and-a-half hours a month listening to the podcasts they download.

More interesting, on average less than 20% listen to their podcast downloads on an MP3 player or other digital device. This metric has not changed since our initial study of podcast behavior in July of 2005.

To view chart CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

*Sample = 2,400 listeners 12-64.

Sample erro = +/- 2.0%

*Markets including in this study: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Chicago, Boston, Washington, DC, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta.