Podcasts overtake spoken-word radio

FEB 27, 20265 MIN
Podnews Daily - podcast industry news

Podcasts overtake spoken-word radio

FEB 27, 20265 MIN

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Sponsored by CoHost. Is your podcast audience truly growing? Explore CoHost’s New Listener metric that reveals how many people are discovering your podcast for the very first time. For the first time in history, podcasts are now bigger than spoken-word radio, according to new data from Edison Research at SSRS. This time ten years ago, podcasting was more than seven times smaller than AM/FM radio, which was a dominant force in spoken-word listening. But, over the last decade in the US, the share of time spent using AM/FM radio to listen to spoken-word audio has almost halved - shifting to time spent with podcasts. There will be more data about podcasting next month, with the publication of The Infinite Dial® 2026, with support from SiriusXM Media. The gold standard of research on podcast consumption, the new data will be unveiled by Megan Lazovick, VP of Edison Research at SSRS, in a free webinar on Mar 12. She’ll be joined by our Editor, James Cridland. A new report on ad spend from Guideline says that US digital audio ad revenue will increase +9.3% this year, to $2.9bn. Podcasts are expected to hit 35% of digital audio ad spend (suggesting podcast ad spend of just over $1bn). Figures are worked out differently to the IAB, which suggested podcasting was $2.4bn in 2024. Guideline also reported that growth in digital audio ad spend is at the expense of TV budgets - $87mn was shifted out of TV into digital audio advertising in 2025 - and radio declined by $29.3mn. Digital audio advertising was still less than 5% of the total media mix in 2025. Piling on to radio’s diminishing place in audio, in the UK, radio charity association The Radio Academy is now The Audio Academy, "as it deepens its focus across the rapidly expanding audio landscape”. Nick Pitts was made Chair. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad hereListen to the Not So Scary Podcast — Your weekly comedic retelling of stories that were scary once upon a time, but not so much anymore.Own the Charts w/ AudienceLift.com ✅ — More Listeners. More Charts. More Growth. 🚀 Grow your podcast with targeted campaigns that deliver results. Visit AudienceLift.com today!Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, PodMatch, Sounds Profitable, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, The Podglomerate, PAVE Studios, Podscribe, Audiohook, Cohost, Libsyn, Resound, Magid, The Content Creator's Accountant, audioBoom, Simplecast, Steve Lack: Audio, RedCircle, SALT, Riverside.fm, Jar Podcast Solutions, Podchaser, Awesound, Disctopia, Podpage websites, Knucklehead Media Group, Evergreen Podcasts, Acast, We Edit PodcastsSilver supporters: Audacia Audio, Gamut Podcast Network, Bumper, Goalhanger, Sounds Debatable, Magellan AI, The Podcast Haven, Red Seat Ventures, Voxtopica, The Roost, Podium , Storyboard, Companion Arts, Frequency, POW PR, SoundStack, PodAnalyst, Huberman Lab, Gumball, Truefans, Tink Media, Jonekiri, Ausha, Gilded Audio, Castbox, Araeya Media, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Locked On Podcast Network, Compliance Podcast Network, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Headliner, Double Elvis Productions, Castos, Wondery, Transistor, Podcast Taxi, Optimal Living Daily, Lemonada Media, Jam Street Media, Zvook, Rephonic, Diversion Podcasts, matchmaker.fm, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Heartcast Media50, Rhapsody Voices, Blubrry, CreatorX, Oxford Road, Ad Results Media, Content10x, StreamGuys, Podcast Partnership, Hear.Here.Singapore, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Podcast Movement, Revolver Podcasts, Sonix, Adopter Media, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Lower Street, Edison Research at SSRS, Signal Hill InsightsOur supporters pay for Podnews, so everyone can read it. Join them today.