HBG Media Minute: Video Podcasts? Audiences Are Turning To Video To Consume Podcast Content
We at Harker Bos Group recently conducted a nationwide study to determine how radio listeners are consuming podcast content. More specifically, we wanted to know if the recent hubbub about video podcasts being ‘the new thing’ actually played out in our data. In a survey of 700+ radio listeners we found that a good chunk of them are indeed not only listening to podcasts (in addition to their radio consumption habits) but also watching podcasts on video supported platforms like Spotify and YouTube. First things first, we asked radio listeners if they listen to podcasts:
Graph (below): Do you listen to podcasts?
As it turns out, 64% of radio listeners also consume podcasts. These numbers are in line with national averages, and hold no surprises – podcasting is big media, and listenership continues to grow despite misplaced murmurs of a market correction.
Now let’s cut to the meat of this week’s media minute:
Graph (below): Have you ever watched a video of your favorite podcast(s)?
Of the radio listeners we surveyed that consume podcasts, 73% have watched a video of their favorite podcast(s). An overwhelming majority (roughly ¾’s) of podcast consumers, have sought out related video content. This video content is usually just the hosts and guests sitting in a room speaking over mics at each other. There is no studio magic here. Instead of just listening to people talking, you are watching people talking, often in a DIY milieu. These video podcasts sometimes are just people talking over Zoom. And it turns out this is what the people want! The market is rife with desire for video podcasts, as demonstrated by the next finding in our study…
Graph (below): Do you prefer to listen to your favorite podcast(s) or watch your favorite podcast(s)?
Among those surveyed, the traditional method of merely listening to their favorite podcasts comes out at 33%, 11% over the nouveau preference to watch their favorite podcasts (22%). That being said, one would expect that the outright preference for watching video podcasts will gain ground on listening to podcasts. However, to look at the graph from a different angle, 45% of podcast listeners (basically half of them) like a mix of both video and audio podcast content. Add the 22% of those who prefer to watch with those who go both ways, and you have 67% of all podcast listeners who at least watch video podcasts some of the time. That’s the majority of podcast consumers who at least sometimes watch video versions of their favorite podcasts.
Our Advice: If you’re a PD or station manager, and you are pumping out podcast content that features clips from your morning show or whatever, then make sure that you are also including video of your on-air talent in your uploads, regardless of that on-air talent being sightly or not.
Thanks for tuning into this week’s media minute. I’m Sean and I will see you with another entry next week, maybe.
Study Profile:
Study Conducted in January 2023
700+ Radio Listeners
Nationwide Sample
Male/Female
All Ethnicities/Races
Ages 18+