According to figures from the Australian Podcast Bi-Annual Report by Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) and Triton Digital, podcast listenership has increased by 8.7% in the first half of 2024 compared to last year. This comes after 2023 data from Statista claimed Australian podcast listenership was the highest ever recorded, at 43%, making Australians “the world’s most avid podcast listeners.”
As podcasts continue to gain traction and influence, they are not just supplementing traditional news sources but are becoming integral to how Australians consume and engage with news. The Digital News Report: Australia 2024 from the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra highlights a 4% rise in "heavy news users" who are turning to podcasts specifically for their news.
This hasn’t gone unnoticed by advertisers, with online audio advertising spending reaching a substantial $78.9 million in Q2 2024 - a financial year-on-year increase of 23.6% for 2024, according to the Advertising Revenue Report (IARR) by PwC and released by IAB Australia.
Podcasts are becoming central to how audiences engage with news and information. So which podcasts which podcasts are at the forefront, driving conversations and attracting the largest audiences in 2024?
Hamish & Andy’s podcast has seen incredible growth in monthly listeners across 2024, with a much more significant growth trajectory than any of the other leading podcasts.
They achieved peak listenership in April reaching over 970,000 listeners, and a 146% increase in listeners from January to August. The monthly average across 2024 is over 748,000 listeners per month, more than 100k more than the average monthly listeners of the second-ranked podcast, Casefile True Crime.
The Kyle & Jackie O Show has had a somewhat turbulent 2024, seeing both increases and declines in listenership, with their peak numbers in February reaching over 515,000 listeners. This comes after news broke in November 2023 of their 10-year radio deal worth $200 million dollars.
ARN/iHeart as a publisher has the highest number of podcasts in the top 10, with the Imperfects, The Kyle & Jackie O Show, Life Uncut, and Stuff You Should Know, totalling over 10 million monthly average listeners accumulatively across those four programs.
The Shameless podcast, which took the top spot in January with over 516,000 listeners, has seen a month-on-month decline in its position in the CRA and Triton Digital rankings, while its monthly listener numbers stayed consistent fairly throughout the year.
Across the board we’re primarily seeing an increase in monthly listenership figures for the top news podcasts, with the exception of No Filter from Mamamia, which has seen a 60,000 listener decline in the last 3 months.
ABC News Top Stories has ranked 1st out of news category podcasts since it debuted back in April, with over 669,000 listeners. Each episode, which lasts less than two minutes, provides a summary of the day's most significant stories - catering to the growing demand for quick, accessible news.
Sky News Australia Update has seen consistent growth throughout 2024, seeing a 1.8 times increase in listeners in August compared to January.
The publishers of the news podcasts are spread fairly even between different publishers, with ABC seeing 3 in the top 3, and Mamamia with 2 podcasts. ABC News Daily, 7am, and No Filter all achieve a similar per month average of aout 270,000 listeners.
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