Edison Research – the leading podcast research company in the world – releases its Infinite Dial report every spring to “track new mediums as they develop… including U.S. digital audio, mobile, smart speakers, podcast consumption, and social media.”

There are several noteworthy trends in this year’s report, chief among them, the unrelenting rise of podcasting. In fact, according to Tom Webster, Senior Vice President at Edison Research, “This is a watershed moment for podcasting–a true milestone. With over half of Americans 12+ saying that they have ever listened to a podcast, the medium has firmly crossed into the mainstream.”

Before 2019, the number of podcast listeners was steadily growing. But this year has seen a huge jump, according to the New York Times review of the new data. They reported that more than half the people in the United States have listened to a podcast, and nearly one out of three people listen to at least one podcast every month. Last year, it was one in four.

Also noteworthy in the report are the steady declines in social media usage, particularly Facebook. We wonder if this may be attributed in part to the privacy violations that continue to plague the social media giants. Perhaps users are seeking private media options to secure some of their more sensitive messages and data.

The report does not yet include specific data on the rise of live podcast streaming, a trend we are seeing in our own business. Companies have begun using live audio within our podcasting app as a better way to get remote workers ‘dialed in’ to important company meetings and announcements. We wonder if live audio podcasts will be given special attention in next year’s report, as they are new and very much on the rise.

But the numbers on podcasting becoming mainstream are undeniable. One hundred forty-four million Americans listen to podcasts. 62M listen on a weekly basis averaging 7 podcasts per week. And online audio listeners averaged 17 hours of listening in the last week. It’s no wonder that businesses and corporations are taking advantage of the corporate podcast medium to better reach their workforces. At uStudio, we’re seeing significant adoption from major enterprises including Salesforce, Dell, AXA, Cintas, AT&T, Nationwide and so many more who see podcasting as a great way to accomplish sales enablement or internal communications objectives.

To learn more about how podcasting can benefit your business, request a demo and a uStudio team member will be in touch shortly.