The popularity of podcasts is on the rise with Australians listening to more podcasts more often, driven in part by the growing appetite among women for true crime tales.
The ABC’s third annual Podcast Survey (see all the results in the infographic below) revealed that almost half (44 per cent) of podcast listeners listened to true crime in the past month, up from 30 per cent in 2017.
Women also led an overall increase in podcast engagement, with almost two-thirds (65 per cent) claiming to listen to more podcasts in 2018 than the previous year – versus 51 per cent of men. While women turned to true crime, men were more likely to look for laughs – with the number of men listening to comedy podcasts up 10 percentage points.
Other key findings included:
- 65 per cent listened to a podcast in the previous 24 hours, up from 57 per cent from 2017.
- 59 per cent listened to more podcasts in 2018 than in the previous year.
- The average listening time for those who listened to a podcast in the previous week is 6.1 hours, across an average of six podcast episodes and five series.
ABC director of specialist content Judith Whelan said: “Our appetite for podcasts continues to grow across multiple genres, led by compelling true crime stories with real impacts on injustice in our society. At the heart of such podcasts are strong stories that engage listeners, no matter their gender. As Australia’s leading podcast producer, the ABC is proud to share such remarkable stories with listeners.”
