Podcasts Lose Their Edge

Podcasting has emerged out of years of rapid growth and a pandemic boom to face an identity crisis as its ecosystem contracts, advertisement slows and the medium eases into maturity. From a report: Podcasts changed the listening habits of millions of people over the last decade, but the once-groundbreaking format has settled into a more precarious middle age. Fewer people are creating new shows, networks are having difficulties recouping investments, and longtime podcasters are on the hunt for ways to keep their shows sustainable. The podcast ad market has not grown as quickly as many hoped. Its $1.5 billion size in 2022 was minuscule compared to the nearly $70 billion spent on TV ads last year. Podcast search engine Listen Notes' updated 2022 stats showed an 80% drop in new podcasts created last year. A December report from Insider Intelligence also shows listener growth in 2022 shrank to only 5% after years of double-digit percentage growth. Additionally, data from Edison released in December found declines for the first time in monthly and weekly U.S. listening habits. These shrinking numbers can, in part, be chalked up to a rebound, after the pandemic inspired a boom in new shows and gave many people more time to listen.

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