Canadians Finally Get a Study on Podcasting Habits

We’re told that podcasting is hot, a statement that’s backed up by all kinds of American statistics and studies. That’s great, but could we please get some numbers that are relevant to Canada?

That’s finally happened thanks to a couple of research companies, Audience Insights and Ulster Media. Details came out this week in a document called “The Canadian Podcast Listener,” which looked at the podcasting habits of 4,000 people across the country.

Let’s start with a chart.

The takeaway is that more than a third of Canadian adults have listened to a podcast in the past year. At the same time, nearly the same amount know that podcasts exist but can’t be arsed to listen to one.

Still, 10 million-ish podcast listeners isn’t a small number–and the number of people into podcasts is growing. More than 70% of those polled just started listening to podcasts in the last three years. About 41% started over just the last year.

Why do Canadians listen to podcasts? Entertainment, information and to learn something new. No real surprise there.

There seems to be an appetite for Cancon, too. Almost half of those polled say they want to know more about what Canadian podcasts are out there. Interestingly, four of the top ten podcasts of the last month were Canadian. (Good. I’ve been advocating for the creation of podcast strategies in this country lest we’re swamped with foreign content leaving Canada with a tiny podcast footprint in our own country.)

The biggest podcaster in the country? The CBC. Again, no real surprise there. They can repurpose all kinds of material for podcasts–and they have the staff and resources to do it.

Which group is the biggest consumer of podcasts? People 18-34, usually men (there’s a 46-31 gender split) with a university education. Households with incomes of $100K or higher also listen quite a bit.

When we get to the older demos (+55), women listen more than men.

Want more? The whole study can be viewed here.