Podcasting

The US Podcast Audience’s Party Identification Heading into the 2026 Mid-Term Election

/ Audience Research, Audio Update, Podcasting
US podcast audience

I was talking with Signal Hill Insights founder Jeff Vidler the other day. He’s a bit of a politics junkie and has been following the shifting party allegiances of the US monthly podcast audience in the Demos+ study we conduct with Triton Digital, surveying 3,000+ monthly podcast consumers every calendar quarter. He noticed some shifts

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How Do Canadians Feel About AI-Generated Podcasts and Music?

/ Audio Update, Podcasting
AI-generated podcasts

How do you feel about fully AI-generated audio? We’re not asking about podcasts or music where the producer or artist used some AI tools to help with things like research, notes, effects or editing. Rather, we’re asking about content that is generated start-to-finish by an AI-tool, from script or composition, voices or instruments, to final

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Tackling the big tensions from Podcast Movement NYC: Podcasting on Video, Netflix, and Around the Globe

/ Audio Update, Branded Podcasts, Podcasting, Video Podcasting
Podcast Movement NYC

After five years working in the podcast industry and listening to colleagues offer post-conference recaps, I finally had the opportunity to attend my first Podcast Movement. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I was excited to spend two full days in New York City, arguably the cultural capital of the United States, learning about the state of the

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Civics, Controversies, and 90,000 Media Consumers: 3 Throughlines from Sounds Profitable’s NYC Business Summit

/ Audio Update, Podcasting
NYC Business Summit

The first-ever Sounds Profitable Business Summit in New York City started in the dark. Opening presenter Ira Glass, host/creator of the long-running This American Life, asked for the obscurity in order to focus the audience’s attention on his voice and the sounds he would be sharing. Speaking to, “Things that Podcasts Do Better,” he took

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Podcasting Takes Over NYC with the Sounds Profitable Business Summit and Podcast Movement

/ Audio Update, Podcasting, Video Podcasting
podcast movement 2026

Next week, September 14 – 18, podcasting takes over New York City. The week starts off with the Sounds Profitable Business Summit on Monday and Tuesday, the annual IAB Podcast Upfront is Wednesday, and the first-ever NYC edition of Podcast Movement wraps things up Thursday and Friday. The Signal Hill Insights team is honored to

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Research Is More than Just Data – 4 Ways Research Drives Return in Podcasting

/ Advertising research, Audience Research, Audio Research, Audio Update, Podcasting, Video Podcasting

I hear folks in the podcast industry – from podcasters and publishers to advertisers and buyers – say all the time that they’re “data driven.” I don’t doubt this to be true, but what I think they really mean to say is that they’re “research driven.”  Data isn’t just there. It needs to be gathered,

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How do you describe a podcast? 4,819 Americans tell us what they think.

/ Audience Research, Audio Research, Audio Update, Podcasting
define a podcast

 “If it works with your eyes closed, it’s a podcast.”   I really like this “short version” of the recently released AMP Accords definition of a podcast. The long version is more technical, but no less useful. I like this short version both because it’s simple, and because it pithily captures what is most pertinent

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Audio on the Move Report Shows YouTube Is Changing the Canadian Audio Landscape

/ Audio Research, Audio Update, Podcasting, Video Podcasting

Canadians still love audio. This is true despite the apparent consumer preference for video, and growing public concern about supposed addictions to short-form video and an associated shortening of attention spans. In fact, 90% of Canadians aged 12+ listened to some form of audio yesterday, including AM/FM radio, streaming music, music on YouTube, audio or

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New Benchmarks Compare Brand Lift Between Audio and Video Podcast Ads, and More

/ Advertising research, Audio Research, Audio Update, Brand Lift Study, Branded Podcasts, Ethnographic Research, Podcasting, Qualitative Research, Video Podcasting

In 2023, when YouTube established its beachhead as the most-used podcast platform, the Signal Hill Insights team measured brand lift for exactly zero video podcasts that year. Just a year later, in 2024, video was included in 24% of our podcast studies.  Responding to the clear needs of the marketplace, in April 2025 we formally

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How to Use Audience Data to Grow Your Podcast or Network

/ Audience Research, Audio Update, Podcasting
audience data

Most of us in the podcast industry are very focused on content, for good and obvious reasons. That’s the beating heart of podcasting. But a content-centric mindset can actually be a barrier to audience development. While it’s true that audiences pick shows based upon the content, the factors driving this choice are much more complex

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