Global Podcasting Market

Podcasting Market Insights

A podcast is an episodic sequence of digital audio files that users can access and download on their devices for listening. There are various podcasting and streaming application services that present a sophisticated method to manage private consumption queues. Aside from entertainment, podcasting is being utilized by famous brands to communicate to a bound audience. Through podcasting, businesses and brands can tell their story anywhere, which assists them in establishing their jurisdiction across the industry.

The smooth accessibility of podcasts during transportation times and multitasking such as gardening, walking, cleaning, or exercising, propels the market growth. The availability of high bandwidth, the advent of smartphones, and, recently, individual digital assistants have floored the way for this industry and have been reconstructed from niche media to mainstream music means. The adoption of smartphones has risen significantly in the current past, in both emerging and developed economies. As an outcome of this, a huge population of people has got access to podcasts and audiobooks. Thus, these factors are foreseen to drive the global podcasting market's growth during the forecast timeframe.

Even though the market is still in its nascent stage, it has seen incredible growth in both consumption and production volume over the past decade. Since podcasts are adopted to follow current consumption trends, it is likely to grow exponentially over the forecast period due to the great demand for easily available entertainment content.

The podcast generation has risen significantly over the ages owing to technological advancements. Big companies have started concentrating on podcasts and are investing significantly for various purposes. Hence, these factors are assumed to accelerate the global podcasting market growth over the forecast period.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, listeners have been reported to spend more time at home. The majority of listeners used to listen to podcasts during their commutes until the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, news and television organizations such as CNN have begun creating COVID-19 update podcasts. Because of the increasing number of smartphone users, the podcasting industry has seen substantial growth since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many podcasting platforms, similar to video streaming services, have begun offering subscription-based assistance to consumers. Though the podcasting platforms are still in the nascent stage, audio-on-demand is undergoing robust growth in diverse languages, including English, Spanish, and others.

Independent studios producing native podcasts and audio-visual organizations making original material are among the many participants in the podcasting market. Owing to the lack of entry barriers, industry competitors from other media markets partner with independent content distributors and emphasize delivering original content to gain a greater audience share, thereby expanding a strategic edge to the industry-leading participants. The U.S.-based video-streaming platform, YouTube, Inc., enables the channel admins to post audio webcasts with plain static images to increase their digital footprint into this industry as well.

Podcasting Market: By Genre

By genre, there are five segments: news & politics, society & culture, comedy, sports, and others. The sports segment is anticipated to expand at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. This is due to the presence of a substantial number of sports fans worldwide. Sports podcasters offer relevant content with daily topics by summoning popular sports celebrities to captivate listeners.

The news and politics segment is earning massive fame in the global podcasting market. This is typical because the majority of users hear these podcast genres daily. Usually, the format of such podcasts is a discussion or panel discussion or solo news briefing over ongoing political matters. News & politics podcasts contribute exclusive content on modern affairs to its listeners, which is why it has earned such significant popularity.

Podcasting Market: By Formats

By formats, there are two segments: interviews, panels, solo, repurposed content, and conversational. The solo format segment is anticipated to expand at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. The solo contents are recorded by single individuals who have expertise in particular fields or share their specific content experience. As the industry is in the midst of its rush, independent publishers enter the business with these formats, which are simple and require a microphone and fundamental free editing software.

Moreover, the repurposed content segment is also projected to witness significant growth over the forecast period. Repurposing any content requires reworking, editing, and reformatting the content to reach a more widespread audience and deliver the same information in other creative ways. Besides, these audiocasts charm the audience to re-watch the shows or movies accessible on various over-the-top platforms.

Podcasting Market: By Region

The podcast's Latin American market is anticipated to witness the fastest CAGR over the forecast period. The infiltration of digital devices with the reputation and availability of podcast content allowed in the Spanish language drive the regional market growth. It is assumed that there are nearly 500 million Spanish-speaking individuals globally, especially in the Hispanic society in Latin America, the U.S., and Spain, which is predicted to boost the growth outlooks for both Spanish podcast listeners and producers.

North America will account for the highest revenue share and is expected to hold its dominance over the forecast period. The U.S. alone will capture a huge chunk of revenue share in the overall market for podcasts. This can be associated with the early adoption of the most advanced technologies and a diversified audience base of all age groups in the region.

Podcasting Market Share and Competitor Analysis

Megaphone LLC (The Slate Group), Apple, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Entercom Communications Corporation (Radio.com), Pandora Media, Inc., Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. (Pandora Media, Inc.), iHeartMedia, Inc. (Thomas H. Lee Partners), Spotify Technologies S.A., TuneIn, Inc., The Adecco Group, Soundcloud Limited, are some of the identified industry players.

Please note: This is not an exhaustive list of companies profiled in the report.

In July 2020, Megaphone's recently expanded its collaboration with Podsights, the largest attribution site for podcast advertising. The collaboration aimed to improve Podsights' attribution capability for all Megaphone Targeted Marketplace initiatives (MTM).

In June 2020, iHeartRadio entered into a partnership with WarnerMedia Entertainment, a publishing and television corporation. The collaboration aimed to create a series of companion podcasts for HBO Max's forthcoming original and legacy program.