HBG Media Minute: Radio Morning Shows as Podcasts
Podcasts are an increasingly hot commodity as the amount of total podcast listeners in the U.S. is growing at a generous clip. How do radio stations keep up?
In this month’s Harker Bos Media Minute, we wanted to unearth some podcast listening habits of established radio listeners. In a nationwide study launched in October, we asked over 500 morning show radio listeners about their podcast habits, specifically whether they listened to the podcast iterations of their favorite morning radio programs.
The results were eye-opening as they clearly indicate to any PD across the country that to maximize listenership and engagement, one needs a companion podcast for their marquee morning shows. The data bears this out, as we can see in the following chart:
Graph (below): Have you ever listened to a podcast version of your favorite radio morning show?
Right off the bat, 52% of Morning radio listeners are also listening to the podcast version of their favorite morning radio show. That is more than half of a morning radio audience playing a podcast version of a morning show. If you do not already have a highlights package/replay of your morning radio show, then now would be the time to capitalize!
Naturally, we at Harker Bos Group wanted to know how they were listening to podcasts of their favorite morning radio shows:
Graph (Below): How do you access the podcast version of your favorite radio morning show?
Most of those we surveyed find their podcasts through a standard podcast player, i.e. Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, at 62%. A not insignificant amount access podcasts of their favorite morning radio shows through Smart Speaker (16%). This signals to PD’s that in addition to instructing audiences to listen to their station via a smart speaker (“Alexa, play KROQ”), that they also apprise them of their ability to access podcast clips/episodes of a station’s morning show through a Smart Speaker (“Alexa, Play the 2 Guys Named Chris Podcast”).
Over half of these podcast listeners use the radio station’s website (53%), and especially if you have a syndicated morning program, 35% access podcast highlights through a Morning Show’s website/landing page.
We hope over the course of this month’s Harker Bos Group Media Minute that we’ve demonstrated the vitality of producing companion podcasts to your station’s morning programs, be it a highlights package or an episode replay.
Media Minute Key Takeaways:
- 52% of morning radio show listeners have also listened to a podcast version of their favorite morning show
- If you do not already have a highlights package/replay of your morning radio show, then now would be the time to capitalize!
- Most find their podcasts through the Apple Podcasts and Spotify (62%)
- Over half of morning radio show listeners found their a podcast version on a radio station’s website (53%)
Study conducted in October-November 2022.
- 1000+ Respondents
- Ages 18-44
- 10+ Markets in the U.S.