Eighty percent of Americans age 12 and older, roughly 230 million people, have now listened to or watched a podcast. That is an all-time high in Edison Research at SSRS’s Infinite Dial, fielded January 2026. US podcast advertising revenue hit $2,862.2 million in 2025. This post covers revenue, audience reach, platform share, the shift to television screens, catalogue size and ad load.
Podcasting Market
How Big Is The Podcasting Market In Advertising Revenue?
US podcast advertising revenue reached $2,862.2 million in 2025, up 17.6% year over year. The figure comes from the 30th edition of the IAB and PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report, released April 2026, and measures revenue reported by companies selling advertising in the United States.
The category booked $105.7 million in 2015. Growth has run in double digits in four of the past five years, decelerating from the 2021 spike.
| Year | US podcast ad revenue ($M) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,448.7 |
| 2022 | 1,825.3 |
| 2023 | 1,925.2 |
| 2024 | 2,433.1 |
| 2025 | 2,862.2 |
Source: IAB / PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report, full-year 2025
Podcasting Market Growth Against Other Ad Formats
Digital audio as a whole, which bundles podcasts with streaming music and streaming radio, reached $8.4 billion in 2025 against $7.6 billion in 2024. Audio held 2.8% of total US internet advertising revenue, down from 2.9% the year before.
| Format | 2024 ($B) | 2025 ($B) | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital video | 62.1 | 78.0 | 25.4% |
| Search | 102.9 | 114.2 | 11.0% |
| Digital audio | 7.6 | 8.4 | 10.2% |
| Display | 74.3 | 81.6 | 9.8% |
| Other | 11.7 | 12.5 | 6.9% |
Source: IAB / PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report, full-year 2025
Social media advertising grew 32.6% to $117.7 billion over the same period. Total US internet advertising revenue rose 13.9% to $294.6 billion.
A separate IAB survey points a different direction for the year ahead. The 2026 Outlook Study, published 28 January 2026 and based on more than 200 brands and agency buyers, forecasts podcast ad spending up 9.6% this year against 9.5% for total US ad spend. That is buyer intent, not audited revenue, and the two series should not be blended.
How Many People Does The Podcasting Market Reach?
The Infinite Dial 2026 surveyed 2,050 Americans age 12 and older in January 2026. Every headline podcast and online audio measure in it set a record.
| Measure (Americans 12+) | Share | People |
|---|---|---|
| Ever listened to or watched a podcast | 80% | 230 million |
| Consumed a podcast in the last month | 58% | 167 million |
| Consumed a podcast in the last week | 45% | 130 million |
| Listened to online audio in the last month | 81% | 233 million |
| Listened to online audio in the last week | 76% | 219 million |
Source: Edison Research at SSRS, The Infinite Dial 2026, n=2,050, fielded January 2026
Older Americans are driving the recent gains. Monthly online audio listening among the 55+ group climbed from 52% in 2024 to 70% in 2026.
Most people who have tried podcasts do both things. Among all Americans 12+, 57% have both listened to and watched one, 21% have listened without ever watching, and 2% have watched without listening.
Watching And Listening Are Now Level
Edison Podcast Metrics recorded video podcast consumption passing audio-only for the first time in Q3 2025. The two have tracked closely since. These are separate survey items, not slices of one total.
| Weekly podcast consumers who… | 2023 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Actively watch video | 73% | 82% |
| Listen to audio only | 89% | 78% |
Source: Edison Research at SSRS, The Podcast Consumer 2026, released June 2026
Podcasting Market Platform Share: YouTube, Spotify And Apple
Three measurement services agree on the ranking and disagree on the size of the lead. All three ask weekly podcast consumers which platform they use most.
| Measurement source | YouTube | Spotify | Apple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal Hill / Cumulus, April 2026 | 44% | 14% | 5% |
| Triton Digital Podcast Metrics Demos+ | 40% | low 20s | 11–12% |
| Edison Podcast Metrics | 37% | low 20s | 11–12% |
Source: Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights, Podcast Download Spring 2026 (n=600, fielded 21–27 April 2026); Triton Digital and Edison Podcast Metrics, cited by Westwood One
Westwood One states it has more confidence in the Edison and Triton readings for Spotify and Apple, citing their larger samples. YouTube has sat inside Alphabet since 2006, and its podcast share has climbed in every Signal Hill reading for eight years.
Apple shows the sharpest reversal in the series. In July 2019 Apple led at 29% with Spotify at 16% and YouTube at 15%. Apple’s competitive position across categories looks very different here than it does in hardware.
Where Podcasting Market Listening Actually Happens
Connected TV took its share of podcast time from desktop, not from mobile. Edison’s Share of Ear study measures the share of US podcast time spent by device.
| Device | Q4 2017 | Q1 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile device | 68% | 71% |
| Desktop / laptop | 26% | 15% |
| Internet-connected TV | 3% | 11% |
| Voice-enabled speaker | – | 2% |
| Another kind of device | 4% | 2% |
Source: Edison Research at SSRS, Share of Ear, Q4 2017 and Q1 2026, cited by Westwood One. Columns total slightly above 100% due to rounding.
Some 38% of weekly podcast consumers say they consume podcasts on a smart TV, up from 32% a year earlier. Netflix, whose corporate timeline runs from DVD rental to global streaming, introduced podcasts in January 2026; by April, 62% of weekly podcast consumers knew about it, and 76% were aware video streaming services carry podcasts at all.
Preference for actively watching podcast video rose from 30% in April 2022 to 49% in April 2026. Even so, 92% of weekly consumers describe what they do as listening, and only 8% say they watch only. The strategy behind that streaming push now runs alongside Hulu, Tubi and Amazon Prime Video slates.
Podcasting Market Supply: How Many Podcasts Exist?
Listen Notes indexed 3,799,701 podcasts and 192,201,120 episodes as of 18 August 2026, counting only feeds its automated scripts and human moderators judge to be genuine. Launch volume is the number moving in the other direction.
| Supply metric | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Podcasts in the Listen Notes database | 3,799,701 | 18 Aug 2026 |
| Episodes in the database | 192,201,120 | 18 Aug 2026 |
| New podcasts launched worldwide | 82,642 | Jan–Jun 2026 |
| New podcasts launched, June alone | 8,257 | Jun 2026 |
| Shows active so far in the year | 519,708 | Jan–Jun 2026 |
| Shows declared dead | 10,662 | Jan–Jun 2026 |
| AI-generated or low-quality feeds removed | 4,389 | Jun 2026 |
Source: Listen Notes podcast database, August 2026 for catalogue totals; Listen Notes first-half data reported by Inside Radio, July 2026
June’s 8,257 launches were the lowest of any month in 2026. Listen Notes classifies a show as dead when its RSS feed is deleted or the publisher marks it complete.
Podcasting Market Ad Load And Monetization Headroom
Magellan AI measured 7.8% of US podcast content given to advertising in Q1 2026. Television carries three to four times that.
| Channel | Share of content given to advertising |
|---|---|
| US podcasts (Q1 2026) | 7.8% |
| Ad-supported streaming video | 7–15% |
| Broadcast TV | 20–27% |
| Cable TV | 25–33% |
Source: Magellan AI, Q1 2026, cited by Westwood One. Streaming and TV figures are stated as ranges by the source.
Audience tolerance moved too. Weekly podcast consumers put the appropriate ad load for a 60-minute show at 3.6 minutes consistently from 2017 through 2023. In 2026 that reading rose to 4.7 minutes.
Signal Hill also reports podcast hosts are twice as influential as social media creators among weekly consumers. Spotify frames its own platform goal around creator monetization, and creator advertising is where the larger money sits: IAB projects creator ad spend reaching $44 billion in 2026.
FAQs
How much is podcast advertising worth in 2026?
The latest audited figure is $2,862.2 million for full-year 2025, up 17.6%, from the IAB and PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report released April 2026. IAB’s separate 2026 Outlook Study forecasts podcast ad spending rising 9.6% this year.
How many Americans listen to podcasts?
58% of Americans age 12 and older, about 167 million people, consumed a podcast in the last month. 45%, roughly 130 million, did so in the last week. Both are records in Edison Research at SSRS’s Infinite Dial 2026.
Reddit podcasters say the market is saturated. Do the numbers back that up?
Launches are falling, not rising. Listen Notes counted 82,642 new podcasts worldwide from January to June 2026, with June’s 8,257 the lowest month of the year. The database holds 3,799,701 podcasts as of 18 August 2026.
Which platform do most podcast listeners use?
YouTube, on all three measurement services. Signal Hill and Cumulus put it at 44% of weekly podcast consumers in April 2026, against 14% for Spotify and 5% for Apple. Triton reads 40% and Edison 37%.
Is anyone on Reddit right that podcasts are moving to TV screens?
Partly. Internet-connected TV accounts for 11% of US podcast time spent in Q1 2026, up from 3% in Q4 2017. Mobile still holds 71%, and 92% of weekly consumers describe what they do as listening.
