Recently, Triton Digital released their 2022 U.S. Podcast Report, and it’s chock full of tasty data and overall positive news for podcasting. The top headline is that overall downloads are up 20% over 2021. Moreover, the average listener downloaded 1.1 more hours of content a week, too. 

The report also reveals some very strategic demographic insights from Triton’s Demos+ product. But did you know that Signal Hill fields the survey and does the data modeling that drives these metrics? It’s podcasting’s first-ever integration of census (a/k/a download data) and survey-based research methodologies. 

I want to highlight some of these datapoints, give my POV on why I think they’re important, and how to leverage them.

Podcast Listeners Are Younger Than You Might Think

I’ve often heard doubts that enough younger listeners tune in to podcasts. It seems the image of a stereotyped public radio listener (middle-class and middle-aged) continues to persist – likely formed back when Serial made a splash in 2015. We easily can bust the old stereotype with the 2022 Demos+ data, clearly showing that people who listen to podcasts at least once a month are younger than the US population. In some cases, much younger.

Looking for A18–24? They’re over-represented in podcasts by 25% compared to the gen pop. Comedy podcasts are an efficient way to reach them – they overindex for this genre by +59%. Among the top 100 podcasts measured by Triton in 2022, the three shows with the highest percentage of this young audience are “Zane and Heath: Unfiltered,” “Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain” and the “H3 Podcast.”

Look at A25–34 – a group with higher incomes and mobility, trying new brands and solidifying their allegiances – and the news is even better. They overindex by a full 50% more compared to the gen pop. Not surprising for anyone paying any attention to the podcasting sphere for the last few years, True Crime shows are effective at reaching women in this age group. 

The Podcast Audience Is Also More Diverse

Filling out the picture some more, Demos+ shows that the podcast audience is now more diverse than the general population. Specifically, Black and African American listeners are 9% more prominent, and the percentage of those identifying as Hispanic is 15% higher. Moreover, we see that Hispanic audiences are more likely to prefer Comedy podcasts. 

Still Plenty of Purchasing Power

From the beginning podcasting has attracted educated and affluent listeners, and that trend has not changed, even as the audience has grown younger and more diverse. The share of listeners with a household income of $100K or more is 21% greater than in the U.S. population as a whole. And the percentage with a college degree is 31% more. 

This means podcasts attract an audience that is getting more valuable by the year. 

The Impact of Podcast Audience Surveys

Even if this just barely scratches the surface of Demos+, Triton’s 2022 Podcast Report clearly demonstrates the impact of having deep demographic insights, combined with the census data that drives show and network rankers. Publishers can tell a far more compelling story by going beyond download numbers, and buyers are better able to optimize reach for their target audience. 

The advantage of Demos+ is that we can extend these insights across a publisher’s portfolio – not just the top 100 charting shows  – with iron clad and reliable metrics for podcasts that rank among the top few thousand. Getting these kinds of comprehensively valid audience insights isn’t simple – I know, I’ve been doing it for nearly a decade – but Signal Hill and Triton teamed up to make it easy for Demos+ subscribers. We’re happy to tell you more.