April Update: New Audiences and Moving the Cheese

Liss N' Kristi, The Dodd Pod, Podcast Audience Data, Google Migration

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter from rainy Los Angeles.   

Further down, new podcast audience numbers from Edison, and (if you're fed up with "Zoom-sound") - an alternative recording platform some of you have tested for me, and we now recommend based on those results. 

But first - congratulations to Liss 'N Kristi - who've just hit 10-thousand viewers and listeners in their first five weeks. 

Kristi Schiller is the founder of the non-profit organizations K9s4cops and K9s4kids, who work with public safety and school departments across the United States to train and place hundreds of working dogs in places where they can protect children and adults. 

Kristi was inspired to launch the "kids" offshoot following the multiple murders of little kids at Sandy Hook by a deranged person. 

Kristi's life story goes well beyond the amazing charity work she's doing. Fortunately, her podcast co-host, Alissa Blow (aka "Liss" - a 'natural' as a first-time studio host) is able to keep the podcasts to time each Monday and Wednesday, and adding her own incisive take on current culture and news events. 

Next, please welcome THE DODD POD! The family are launching their new podcast this month, combining family wisdom with loving discourse. The Dodd Pod will be proof that good people can disagree, and still have a loving and lively conversation. I was fortunate to meet them last week in Los Angeles (no prizes for spotting the fat guy in the middle).

 

left to right: Shane Dodd, Pam Nolen, Old Fat Guy, Roz Dodd, Dena Perry

The latest Edison Research suggests 47% of the U.S. 12+ population has listened to a podcast in the last month, up 12% year over year; 34% of the U.S. 12+ population has listened to a podcast in the last week, up 10% year over year. Despite changes in how downloads are being delivered and counted, listening levels are up markedly. (Apple fiddled with their algorithms - guess who is in charge? :-) 

Growth in podcast reach is driven by large increases among the number of female listeners:

• 45% of women in the U.S. age 12+ have listened to a podcast in the last month, up from 39% in 2023, an increase of 15%; 32% of women in the U.S. age 12+ have listened to a podcast in the last week, up from 27% in 2023, an increase of 19%

• Weekly and monthly podcast listening among men are up 3% and 4%, respectively

• Increases in the number of monthly and weekly podcast listeners are seen across all age groups

Online audio listening hits the highest mark ever:

• 76% of those in the U.S. age 12+ have listened to online audio in the last month, an estimated 218 million people

• 90% of those age 12-34 and 85% of those age 35-54 have listened to online audio in the last month

Smart speaker ownership appears to have plateaued, but the number of smart speakers per owner continues to rise:

• 34% of the population age 12+ report owning a smart speaker, down from 36% in 2023

• Nearly half of smart speaker owners (43%) own three or more of the devices

Twitter/X usage sees a sharp decline after Elon Musk acquisition:

• 19% of those age 12+ are currently ever using X (formerly known as Twitter), a 30% drop from the findings in the 2023 Infinite Dial study

I can send you a copy of the full Edison report if you email me.  Unlike much of the podcast data around, it's reasonably trustworthy. 

As many of you know I've had several "testers" for Riverside.fm which (for a small monthly subscription) invites your guest via email, records your show on both video and audio, and makes available the main file (with both of you) and the individual files (both audio and video). This is super-helpful for video and for mixing sound when you interrupt each other. 

Having worked with this platform now with many of you, I think the video and audio quality is superior to Zoom, and it's easier to deal with sending the files across after recording. 

Last thought: For my current clients, I'll be moving you all across from Google Podcasts (shortly to be defunct, like your local cheese shop, as Corporate America gobbles all of us up) to YouTube Podcasts (where the new heaven lies, apparently, and the cheese never expires). 

You might get an email asking for confirmation that you requested this change. Please say yes, or send it to me. 

As always, text me, email me, recommend me, with any questions or issues :-) 

Thanks for working with me.  

See you in Merry May,

Best, 

Mark