Infinite Dial 2020 Shows Growth In Podcast Listening, Smart Speaker Use

2020 Edition

EDISON RESEARCH and TRITON DIGITAL offered data from the latest edition of the annual INFINITE DIAL study of digital media during a webinar THURSDAY (3/19).

Among the findings, 68% of Americans (192 million) say they have listened to online audio in the past month, up from 67% last year; PANDORA and SPOTIFY tied for the lead among streaming brands at 25% of the 12+ U.S. population, followed by AMAZON MUSIC, APPLE MUSIC, iHEARTRADIO, GOOGLE PLAY, and SOUNDCLOUD. 50% said that AM/FM radio was the audio source most often used in their cars, although that percentage is down from last year's 52%; Oddly, "owned music" appears to have been the beneficiary of AM/FM's shrinkage, moving from 15% to 20% while other categories either lost ground (SIRIUSXM, online audio) or remained flat (podcasts, at just 4%).

As for podcast listening, the number of Americans who have ever listened to a podcast continues to grow, up to 155 million this year, and the number for those who listened in the past month also grew to 104 million, 37% of the 12+ population (up from 32% last year). That audience is close to an even split between men and women (51% to 49%). 68 million (24%) are weekly podcast listeners, although time spent listening to podcasts appears to have flattened (6:39 per week, similar to the last two years' figures).

Also, portable device ownership has flattened, but smart speaker ownership has continued to rise, increasing from 23% of persons 12+ last year to 27% this year (about 76 million), with 52% of 18-34s saying they don't have any radios in their homes, and 32% of all people over 12 years old saying the same.

Social media use by the total population appears to have topped out at 80% (equal to 2017), with small gains (2%) for FACEBOOK in 2020 after losing ground in 2019 (and TIKTOK making its INFINITE DIAL debut at 25%, ahead of LINKEDIN and closely training TWITTER and WHATSAPP); INSTAGRAM is close behind once-dominant FACEBOOK among those in the 12-34 demographic.

In a release accompanying the webinar, EDISON SVP TOM WEBSTER said, “Podcasts now reach over 100 million Americans every month, and are attracting an increasingly diverse audience. Also, with 62% of Americans now saying they have used some kind of voice assistance technology, audio is becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives.”

"We are proud to once again unveil the latest insights and trends around media usage and consumption in the U.S.," said TRITON President of Market Development JOHN ROSSO.  "The study findings provide advertisers and the industry at large with valuable insight into the ongoing evolution of devices, content, and formats that Americans use to consume news and entertainment."

Download the study here.

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