While video gets all the attention, one area of social media that continues to grow is Podcasting. According to emarketer nearly one out of five (19%) Internet users in the US say they have downloaded a podcast, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew’s researchers said that was up from 12% in August 2006.
So who is listening to Podcast’s? Not surprisingly, the answer is the young male. Among male Internet users in the US, 22% said they had downloaded a podcast, compared with just 16% of online women. As for age, Internet users under 50 were significantly more likely than older users to download podcasts.
It is also not a surprise to hear that podcast downloaders also tended to have more experience online than those who did not participate in this activity.
So young, male, experienced computer users is the demographic most receptive to listening to podcasts. It is interesting to see that thededicated podcast audience – those that download podcasts every day – has gone up 300% in two years, from 1% of those surveyed to 3%.
In addition, there seems to be a correlation between broadband and podcast usage. Internet users with broadband and premium broadband access at home are significantly more likely than the average internet user to have ever downloaded a podcast, with twice as many premium home broadband users being daily podcast users.
Just ran into this post—not surprisingly, the usage numbers of YouCastr.com (a live sports broadcasting network that exists in the same general space) show a majority of male users by a factor of almost 4 to 1. It has a lot to do with the traditional sports fan profile for our site’s stats, but I’ve been doing some research on how to better engage women interested in podcasting or broadcasting online. Any thoughts?