8 Million Britons Seek Podcasts

Research has found that nearly eight million Britons "will go in search of a podcast in the next six months" according to the BBC, a far greater number proportionately than US podcast users. "The huge discrepancy between the figures for the US and the UK could point to relative differences in listening habits, online dexterity or even national character" says the article.

"The survey of 5,000 US consumers by Forrester found that 3% had tried listening to a podcast. Of them, 2% had experimented with audio downloads but did not listen on a regular basis. Fewer women download and listen to podcasts.
There will be just 700,000 diehard downloaders in the US this year; a tiny audience compared to the 25 million people who tune into stations run by traditional broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR) every week. The report says that it will take a long time for people to ditch their transistors and join this small group of breakaways because downloading programmes is complicated and content is sparse. However, the good news for broadcasters is that the people who persevere gravitate towards audio from established radio stations rather than relative newbies.

The Forrester survey backs up some of the findings in a report from another research firm, BMRB. Its survey looked at digital consumption in the UK. It also found that podcasts are the preserve of young males. But it predicts a much quicker uptake of podcasts in UK households, with around eight million adults logging on and walking away with their favourite radio programmes in their pocket by September this year."