The rise of podcasts

Podcast listening in the U.S. has

Many listeners also engage with podcasts in ways other than listening, such as watching a movie or reading a book because of a podcast, following a podcast or its hosts on social media, or purchasing a product that was advertised. About a third of listeners (36%) even say they've tried out a lifestyle change – such as a workout routine or journaling – because of a podcast they listened to.

Other types of engagement are less common, including joining online discussion groups, engaging with political causes, paying for a subscription or buying merchandise.

Nearly nine-in-ten of those who hear news on podcasts expect it to be accurate

When Americans do hear about news on the podcasts they listen to, they largely view it as accurate. Among those who hear news discussed on podcasts, a large majority (87%) say they expect it to be mostly accurate, compared with about one-in-ten who say they expect it to be mostly inaccurate.

This is a much higher level of trust than people have in some other sources of news and information. For instance, in a slightly different question asked of Americans who get news from social media in 2020,

Many podcast listeners also say that the news they get there includes information they wouldn't have heard about elsewhere. Nearly three-quarters of Americans who get news on podcasts (73%) say this happens at least sometimes, including three-in-ten who say they often hear unique news on podcasts.

Among all podcast listeners, just over half (54%) say they hear guest or host opinions about politics and government – including 25% who say they hear this type of content extremely or fairly often and 29% who hear it sometimes.

Many who listen to political opinions on podcasts say they largely agree with what they're hearing. Among those who hear political commentary, about half (47%) say these views mostly line up with their own, while just 7% say the opposite. Still, almost half (46%) say they are exposed to about an even mix of political views.

Republican podcast listeners more likely than Democrats to trust podcast news and say it offers unique content

There are no huge differences between Republicans and Democrats in the shares who listen to podcasts and hear news on them. Just under half of Republicans and those who lean Republican (46%) and just over half of Democrats and Democratic leaners(54%) say they have listened to a podcast in the past year, and roughly two-thirds of listeners in each party say they've heard news discussed on the podcasts they listen to.

However, there are some notable differences between podcast listeners in the two major political parties when it comes to their views of the news they hear on podcasts: Republicans are more likely than Democrats to trust the news they hear on podcasts more than other sources and to report hearing news they wouldn't have gotten elsewhere.

Among those who get news on podcasts, nearly half of Republicans (46%) say they trust news on podcasts more than news they get from other sources, compared with about one-in-five Democrats who feel this way (19%). And nearly twice as many Republicans (40%) as Democrats (21%) also say they have often heard news on podcasts that they would not have heard elsewhere.

Among podcast listeners overall, Republicans are somewhat more likely than Democrats to say they often listen to podcasts that feature political opinions (31% vs. 21%) and somewhat less likely to say they listen to podcasts connected to news organizations (14% vs. 26%).

Younger Americans more likely to listen to podcasts, and they turn to podcasts for different reasons than older listeners

As is the case with many other digital habits, younger adults are more likely than older age groups to listen to podcasts – and by a wide margin. Two-thirds of Americans ages 18 to 29 have listened to a podcast in the past 12 months, compared with just under a third (28%) of those 65 and older.

Additionally, younger listeners tend to be more likely than older listeners to be listening to podcasts frequently. Among podcast listeners, roughly half (48%) of those in the youngest group say they listen at least a few times a week, versus about a quarter (27%) of those 65 and older. That means about a third of all U.S. adults under 30 (32%) report listening to podcasts at least a few times a week; the same is true of just 8% of those in the oldest group.

Younger and older podcast listeners are equally likely to say they hear news discussed on the podcasts they listen to. But because younger Americans are more likely to be listening to podcasts in the first place, overall they are more likely than older Americans to be exposed to news from podcasts.

The reasons that Americans turn to podcasts also differ by age. Most podcast listeners ages 18 to 29 say that entertainment (75%) or having something to listen to while doing something else (70%) are major reasons they listen to podcasts. A far smaller share of listeners 65 and older cite entertainment (30%) as a major reason they listen to podcasts, and even fewer (22%) listen to podcasts in the background while doing other things.

Meanwhile, the most common major reason podcast listeners 65 and older cite for listening to podcasts is learning (61%).