Podcasting Booms as Four in Ten Americans Tune In; Smart Speakers Make Their Debut

Podcasting continues to be a growth medium in 2017. New data from the 2017 Infinite Dial Study shows that 40% of Americans 12+ have ever listened to a podcast, with 24% listening to one in the past month. In addition, six in ten Americans are now familiar with the term “podcasting,” a number that has risen 22% in the past two years.

The study also introduces coverage of “Smart Speakers,” a category which includes voice-controlled devices such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Findings show that 63% of Americans 12+ are aware of at least one device in this category, while 7%, an estimated 20 million Americans, live in households that have at least one smart speaker.

Additional findings include:

• Half of Americans 12+ now have access to a Netflix subscription
• The Weekly Online Radio audience is now 140 million Americans, or 53% of Americans 12+
• Time spent listening to online radio surges to an all-time high of 14 hours and 39 minutes per week

< Click Here to Download the 2017 Infinite Dial Study >

About the Study: Presented by Edison Research and Triton Digital, The Infinite Dial is the longest-running survey of consumer media habits and behaviors associated with digital and offline media in the United States. To collect the information presented in the Infinite Dial, a total of 2,000 persons were interviewed to explore Americans’ use of digital platforms and new media. Telephone interviews were conducted between 1/5/17 to 2/11/17 with respondents age 12 and older who were selected via Random Digit Dial (RDD) sampling. Interviews were 51% landline phones and 49% mobile phones.