Weekend Reads | What Podcasts We're Listening To

by Kevin Schofield

This weekend's read is a new report from Pew Research, profiling the top-rated podcasts in the United States as of last summer. According to its research, 49% of U.S. adults listened to a podcast in the past year; it's no longer a "fringe" way to consume content.

Pew gathered the daily "top 200" lists from both Apple Podcasts and Spotify last summer, and compiled a list of the 300 most-listened-to podcasts over time on each platform. It then joined the lists together, removed duplicates, and came up with a final list of 451 "top" podcasts to analyze.

It's fair to say podcasts are for "true crime": nearly one-quarter of the podcasts on its list were on the topic of true crime. That handily beat out politics and government (10%), entertainment and the arts (9%), self-help and relationships (8%), and even sports (6%). In fact, after true crime, the topic list is diverse and scattered, including fictional radio stories and even recordings of people playing Dungeons & Dragons. About 15% of the podcasts focused on news of some form, and 18% were affiliated with a news organization.

The formats also varied: Almost 40% featured "deep reporting" (including 95% of the true crime podcasts); 23% had interviews; and 16% were commentary. Nearly 60% had a single host. Most regularly post new content: 61% of the top podcasts post new content weekly or even more frequently.

Of the top podcasts, 69% were affiliated with a large organization, leaving only 31% independently owned. Nevertheless, 47% asked for listener support (heavily weighted toward the "indie" podcasts). Pew found that 13% of listeners pay for a subscription to a podcast, and 12% bought merchandise related to a podcast.

It might surprise you to learn that about half of all podcasts include a video component, with almost all of those posted to YouTube (though some are also posted to other channels). Also, 73% of podcasts have an accompanying website, and 8% maintain an online discussion forum.

The Pew report contains much more interesting insights, and is a fun read.

The media landscape has shifted tremendously over the past several years, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic had a part to play in that. As the world strives to put the pandemic in its rearview mirror, it will be interesting to see what happens to Americans' media-consumption habits — including whether the true crime obsession becomes a passing fad.

A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S.

Featured image by ronstik/Shutterstock.com.