Podcast Statistics 2026

80% of Americans age 12+ (230 million) have ever listened to or watched a podcast, an all-time high

58% of Americans age 12+ (167 million) have consumed a podcast in the last month, also an all-time high

45% of Americans age 12+ (130 million) have consumed a podcast in the last week

68% of 35-54-year-olds have consumed a podcast in the last month

73% of Americans age 12+ have consumed a podcast in either audio or video format, representing an estimated 210 million people.

The topline: 74% of American adults have consumed a podcast, 55% did so in the past month, and 39% in the past week — essentially unchanged from 2025.

And podcasting is increasingly something people do together: 40% at least occasionally consume podcasts with other people.

Just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they’ve listened to a podcast in the past 12 months, a slight increase since we first asked this in 2022 (49%).

Younger people are far more likely to listen to podcasts, with 67% of those ages 18 to 29 saying they listened to a podcast in the past 12 months, about twice the share of those ages 65 and older (33%).

Monthly podcast listening is higher among men (57%) than it is women (52%).

Looking at political party affiliation for the 2025 calendar year, the audience evenly split into thirds for the first time: 33% identified as Democrat, 33% as Republican, and 33% as Independent.

At the same time, we saw a proportional gain in the share identifying as Republican, growing 7 points from 26% to 33%.

Today, we’re announcing that there are more than 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content on YouTube

Last year, viewers watched over 400M hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices.

According to Edison Podcast Metrics, YouTube is the service used most often to listen to podcasts with 33% of U.S. weekly podcast listeners using the service.

Among Americans age 12+, 57% have both listened to and watched a podcast

Video consumption keeps growing — 44% of consumers watched a video podcast in the past week, up from 40%, and only 17% of Americans still expect a podcast to be audio-only.

Meanwhile, the share of consumers who call a podcast-native app their most-used platform fell from 19% to 15%.

Around a third (34%) of podcast consumers move between audio and video formats within the same week

most podcast users (62%) say they would sƟll consume the same content if it were available only as audio.

When consuming podcast content, the audience breaks down like this: 13% are listen-only 7% are watch-only 80% of monthly podcast consumers both watch and listen

When it comes to news specifically, around a third of U.S. adults (32%) say they get news from podcasts at least sometimes, including 10% who say they do this often.

Around four-in-ten U.S. adults under 50 (39%) say they get news from podcasts often or sometimes, compared with 24% of those ages 50 and older.

Around a quarter (23%) say they trust the news they get from podcasts more than the news they get elsewhere, and an identical share say they trust the news they get from podcasts less

About three-in-ten Republicans and independents who lean Republican (31%) say they trust the news they get from podcasts more than the news they get from other sources.

Among U.S. adults who ever get news from podcasts, majorities say they at least sometimes listen to each of the three types of podcasts we asked about: podcasts that primarily explain a topic or issue in the news in depth (69%), those that feature hosts or guests sharing their opinions on the news (61%), and podcasts that primarily summarize the major news stories of the day (58%).

Just 6% of U.S. adults say that they have directly paid for or given money to podcasts that focus on news in the past 12 months.

Usage of news podcasts is unchanged this year at 11% globally and in fact is unchanged in most markets

The United States has among the highest proportion (15%) accessing one or more podcasts in the last week, with many of these now filmed and distributed via video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

One-fifth (22%) of our United States sample says they came across news or commentary from popular podcaster Joe Rogan in the week after the inauguration, including a disproportionate number of young men.

Exploring the question of payment further we find that 42% of news podcast listeners, across 20 countries we have been tracking for some time, say they would be willing to pay a reasonable price for news-related podcasts they like.

A high proportion of people (73%) also say listening to podcasts helps them understand issues at a deeper level.

Percent of daily ad supported audio time going to podcasts Persons 18+ 19%

Read as: podcast ad exposures result in a 10 point lift in awareness, on average. 66% of those exposed felt the brand was a good fit.

In the new Super Spenders report , a special edition of the Podcast Atlas, 39% of podcast consumers made a podcast-ad-driven purchase in the last three months, and 28% of those purchasers (11% of podcast consumers) spent $300 or more.

Revenue from our Digital Audio Group increased $40.2 million, or 12.4% YoY, driven by Podcast revenue, which increased $27.8 million, or 20.7% YoY, to $162.1 million, primarily due to a continued increase in demand for podcasting from advertisers

Those super spenders account for roughly 62% of recalled podcast-driven spend, a figure that is probably conservative because the report values the $1,000-and-up bucket at its $1,000 floor.

Creators can build a recurring revenue stream directly from their fans while keeping 90% of the revenue they generate.

When asked how they currently get their TV, 33% of weekly podcast consumers reveal they do not have a subscription with any pay TV company.

97% have used a video streaming service in the past month. 88% have used an ad-free video streaming service.

Podcasts reach around a quarter (26%) of the populaƟon weekly and deliver 105 million hours, with listeners spending an average of 6.9 hours a week with the format.

Podcasts reach around a quarter (26%) of the populaƟon weekly and deliver 105 million hours, with listeners spending an average of 6.9 hours a week with the format.

Podcasts reach around a quarter (26%) of the populaƟon weekly and deliver 105 million hours, with listeners spending an average of 6.9 hours a week with the format.

The total number of UK weekly hours listened to audio is over 1.6 billion.

Canada's podcast market reached new heights as 46% of Canadian adults now consume podcasts monthly, the largest single-year increase ever recorded for the format, up from 39% in 2024.

Amid this transformation, YouTube has solidified its position as the single most-used podcast platform in the country, as 40% of monthly listeners use the platform, up from 35% in 2024 and 29% in 2023.

When it comes to RSS downloads, Apple Podcasts continues to lead, accounting for nearly half (49%) of all new episode downloads, followed by Spotify (19%).

Canadian Content Drives Local Connection Canadian-made podcasts now hold their widest lead over U.S. podcasts in seven years, capturing 43% of average listening time among Canadian monthly podcast consumers, compared to 41% for U.S. content.