Median Age of Listeners v. Listening (and a finding about Shakira)

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Median Age of AM/FM, Streaming, Podcast Listeners (and Listening)

We are regularly asked about the ‘median age’ of users to different audio platforms.  Fortunately, with Edison Research’s Share of Ear® study we can answer this question – at least for those age 13 and older.   

But there are two ways to solve for this, and the differences are interesting. 

The two ways are represented in the table below.  In the first data column you see the median age for the ‘cume’ or ‘reach’ of the 13+ audience – the point where half the listeners are older and half are younger.  You will note that Streaming Audio (essentially listening to pureplays like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and the like – but not listening to podcasts on any of these platforms) and Podcasts have the exact same median age when looked at this way.  The median listener to AM/FM Radio is 46 years old — 12 years older than the listener to streaming and podcasts. 

But there is another way to look at things, and that is to total the time spent listening to each platform and finding the point where half of the listening is being done above that age and half below.  In this case, as you can see in the rightmost data column, the variances are a little more stark.  This weighted median of listening time pushes the Radio median age to 51, and the Streaming median down to 31 – a twenty year difference.  Podcasting, when time is considered, gets two years older at 36, showing that the older listeners are giving a little more time to podcasts than the younger. 

All three of these platforms have lots of listeners, and listening, in all age groups.  But the midpoint of these listener and listening bases are significantly different.

The Latino Podcast Listener Report – Register now for the August 16 presentation 

Which Latin music artist do most Latino podcast listeners want to hear host their own podcast? Shakira!

This is one of the many findings from the Latino Podcast Listener Report 2022. This report from Edison Research was commissioned by Adonde Media, LWC Studios, Libsyn, PRX, and SXM Media . This year marks the third annual release of the report and once again the report includes new insights on the Latino podcast space, including new measures. You can join us for the debut of the research on Tuesday, August 16 at 2pm EDT.  

The Latino Podcast Listener Report tracks emerging habits and preferences among listeners, including reasons Latino listeners choose video podcasts, actions they take because of podcast ads, and their interest in local news on podcasts.  

The study will be presented by Gabriel Soto, Senior Director of Research at Edison Research, and Elsie Escobar, She Podcasts Co-founder and Community Manager at Libsyn. Click here to register for the webinar.