Podcasts: alive and well

Have podcasts fallen off a cliff? 

The perception—at least among the financial services marketers we’ve spoken to in the last few weeks—is that podcasts have suffered a big hit since work-from-home policies began in earnest the week of March 9. 

Not quite.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Nicholas Quah, who has covered the podcast industry since 2014 and writes Hot Pod, the podcast industry’s leading trade newsletter, thinks we’re now in a “new normal” that will define podcast listenership until we enter the post-pandemic period (whenever that is). 

And podcasts are actually doing pretty well:

• After falling 20% by late March consistently across all genres, podcast downloads by mid-April were flat versus February.  

• “Flat versus February” isn’t bad, since February downloads were at historical highs. Unlike the stock market, podcasts have largely recovered.

• People are listening to podcasts more evenly throughout the day and the week. And the weekday surge in listening has moved from early morning to late afternoon.

Should marketers rethink podcasting? Probably not. Quah thinks smaller podcasts may be suffering, but that’s not such a concern for self-funded podcasts that have a long view. 

In fact, engagement is up. Listen-through rates “are sky high,” says Chartable, a podcast measurement company, with listeners equally or more engaged than before the pandemic. It’s “a big opportunity… to reach deeply engaged listeners.”

Meanwhile, podcast downloads for our clients have spiked by as much as 200% in March, and are still above their February levels.