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Finlay Mander
What I want to find out from my research:
Are some genres of podcast more successful than others, what are the most popular?
“In the third quarter of 2019, it was found that the most popular podcast genre was comedy, with 36 percent of respondents to a survey having listened to a podcast in this genre in the last week. News podcasts, as well as those focusing on society and culture, had been listened to in the last week by 23 and 22 percent of podcast consumers respectively” (Published by Amy Watson, Jun 4, 2020 statista.com).
Most Popular Genres (TOP 3)
Higher resolution image: https://imgur.com/dATgPlA
Taking the information from this graph its clear that the top 3 genres as of October 2020 are Comedy, true crime and news.
The biggest names in podcasting
sourced from podcastinsights.com
Podcast Name: Dr. Death season Dr. fata
Network/Artist: Wondery
Genre: True Crime
Podcast Name: The Joe Rogan Experience
Network/Artist: Joe Rogan
Genre: Talk
Podcast Name: The Dan Bongino Show
Network/Artist: Westwood One Podcast Network / Dan Bongin
Genre: News & Politics
Podcasting Industry Statistics
Back in 2006, only 22 percent of the adult population in the United States was aware of podcasting. By 2020, this figure had risen to 75 percent. Podcasting is an increasingly popular pastime in the U.S. and there were an estimated 88 million podcast listeners in the country in 2019. (Published by Amy Watson,Jun 8, 2020 statista.com).
How Do Podcasts Make Money?
Higher resolution image available here: https://imgur.com/a/tjdleHi
Getting started with a podcast & first year start up cost
A quality podcast, requires quality gear. Of course its entirely possible to have a podcast with a minimum set up, for example you can record and edit a podcast using just your phone. When it comes to editing your podcast recordings there is plenty of free softwares available, for instance audacity for audio editing.
People start making podcasting for a number of reasons, however when taking the mind map above into consideration, its entirely possible that people can see a podcast as an investment due to potential to turn it into a side income or full on career.
Information taken from Buffer eLibrary, KevanLee: Lee, K., 2020. Podcasting For Beginners: The Complete Guide To Getting Started. [online] Buffer Library. Available at: <https://buffer.com/library/podcasting-for-beginners/> [Accessed 4 December 2020].
Why do people choose to listen to podcasts?
Using my existing knowledge and notes.People implement podcasts into their daily routine not only for entertainment, they allow for multitasking, provide background noise and can prepare you fro the stage in life or career, teach you about specific fields of study or career paths, inform you on world news/politics, teach you how to cook etc etc. The list will only grow the larger the number of podcasts rise.
What caused the rise in podcasts?
Using my existing knowledge and notes. The cause for the rise in popularity is due a few reasons. Platforms such as, Apple music, Spotify, Sound cloud, YouTube and Twitch.tv (live podcasts usually occur here) Made podcasts readily available (for free) and mainstream, whilst also providing new audiences to already established podcasts through deals and promotions. Because there is so much choice in the genres of podcast today it was inevitable that they would eventually blow up in popularity.
Because of the low entry cost in its starting ear and the opportunity for sponsorship, its no surprise why since 2019 nearly 200,000 podcasts have started up – with various success levels however.
What is the point of a Podcast?
Podcasts can either be very advanced and sophisticated, whilst another podcasts can be a group of friends with a simple set up, it doesn’t really matter as each will appeal to its own demographic. Every time a guest is featured on a podcast for a special episode they hope that it will give their podcast a bigger following and more notoriety, further expanding their brand. Ad revenue/sponsorships and product placement is how podcast host(s) make a living so by doing special episodes it can allow them to grow big enough to earn a living from podcasting.
Podcasting formats
Most podcasts follow a format. When I ran out of formats I can remember from podcasts I’ve personally listened to before. I then put these into a mind map which ive uploaded below. I sourced my additional information from Castos. 2020. 8 Podcast Formats To Consider For Your Show – Castos. [online] Available at: <https://castos.com/podcast-format/> [Accessed 4 December 2020].
What are good aspects of a podcast?
:Thomson, P., 2020. What Makes A Good Podcast? 5 Elements You Should Know. [online] Learn.g2.com. Available at: <https://learn.g2.com/what-makes-a-good-podcast> [Accessed 4 December 2020].
Higher resolution image available here: https://imgur.com/a/Zw0z3fa
What are the different genres in podcasting?
- True Crime
- Philosophy
- Comedy
- Education
- Sports
- Science/environment
- Interview cast
- Religious
- History
- News & Politics
- Audio dramas
- Technology
Evidence to support the growth in podcasts this year:
- There are currently over 1,500,000 podcast shows total worldwide.
- As of October 2020, there are over 34 million podcasts episodes.
- June 2018 Apple confirmed that there were a total of 550,000 podcasts, compared to the current 1,500,000 million two years later.
- An article in 2018 also stated that there were “Over 525,000 active shows and over 18.5 million episodes”.
- Another article in the summer 2018 also stated that “Apple podcasts… features more than 500,000 active podcasts, including content in more than 100 languages.”
Winn, R., 2020. 2020 Podcast Stats & Facts (New Research From Oct 2020). [online] Podcast Insights®. Available at: <https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/> [Accessed 4 December 2020].
Phones and the popularity of podcasts:
Taking the trends of this line graph into consideration its clear that since 2017 the upwards trend for smartphone listeners will still be on the increase, whilst less and less people use the less portable device options. Its interesting to see graphs like this develop as the podcasting industry still evolves.
Winn, R., 2020. 2020 Podcast Stats & Facts (New Research From Oct 2020). [online] Podcast Insights®. Available at: <https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/> [Accessed 4 December 2020].
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