As 2024 comes to a close, we are filled with gratitude for the opportunity to connect with many of you in person throughout the year and to continue building upon our research. Edison Research is proud to share ten of our favorite insights from the work we conducted this year. A heartfelt thank you goes out to our research partners and the entire Edison Research team for making this possible. Wishing you all health, success, and happiness in the New Year!
Edison’s Top 10 Findings of 2024 include:
Smart Devices Have Triumphed: From smart speakers to wearable tech, smart devices are an integral part of daily lives. Ninety-three percent of the U.S. population age 12+ own a Smartphone, Smart TV, or Smart Speaker – an estimated 267 million Americans.
Roe’s end moved voters’ attitudes about abortion, but not necessarily their votes: Exit poll data from the 2024 election shows how views on abortion have changed significantly regardless of party since 2020. The combined numbers for the two ‘legal’ positions went from 51% of Americans in 2020 to 65% this year.
Election Bonus Finding: Exit polling is a vital part of international elections: Polls from Venezuela and Georgia demonstrate the importance of collecting third-party data from voters in countries where the official count may be susceptible to manipulation or other uncertainties. Source: Georgiaand Venezuelaexit polls
YouTube is the service used most often for podcast listening: YouTube, typically known as the go-to platform for video content, has risen to the top as the most popular service used for podcast listening in the U.S. with 30% of weekly podcast listeners age 13+ choose YouTube as the service they use most to listen to podcasts.
Podcast listening location, and popular podcast genres, differ in the UK and the U.S.: 6% of UK weekly podcast listeners listen to podcasts most often on public transportation compared to the 2% of U.S. weekly podcast listeners. Nineteen percent of U.S. weekly podcast listeners listened to a True Crime podcast in the past week, while 11% of UK weekly podcast listeners did the same.
Many True Crime consumers listen to podcasts but not true crime podcasts: An opportunity is uncovered for True Crime podcast creators to reach a new audience – 17% of the U.S. population age 13+ (48 million Americans) are True Crime consumers who listen to podcasts, but not True Crime podcasts.
Gen Z and Millennial U.S. Latino listeners are more likely to listen or watch podcasts with other people: Among U.S. monthly Latino listeners who listen or watch podcasts with other people, those aged 18-24 are 47% likely to share their podcast listening experience with others. 25-34-year-olds are close behind at 46% and listeners aged 35-44 are the most likely to listen or watch podcasts with others at nearly half, 49%.
Source: Latino Podcast Listener Report sponsored by LWC Studios, Latino Media Network, Libsyn, SiriusXM Podcast Network, and Uforia Podcasts
U.S. women are sports fans, and they listen to sports audio: 57% of the U.S.female population age 13+ consider themselves sports fans – an estimated 83 million Americans. Thirty-three percent of female sports fans listened to sports audio content in the last week, while 37% of weekly female sports audio listeners spent 5+ hours listening to sports audio in the last week.
Spotify is now the primary source Americans age 12+ use to find new music: Around half of music listeners agree it is important to keep up-to-date with new music, and their means of music discovery has changed. In 2016, 4% said Spotify was the one source they use most often to keep up to date with new music. That number skyrocketed to 18% in 2024, beating out all other platforms in our survey.
The Top Five kids’ podcasts for kids: Kids are consuming podcasts created especially with them in mind, and these are the ones that reach the most kid listeners. The Top Five Kids Podcasts among kids 12 and under are: Story Pirates, Brains On! Science podcast for kids, Wow in the World, Circle Round, and What if World – Stories for Kids.
The audio day of Americans has changed significantly in the past 10 years: Americans age 13+ now spend an average of 20% of their audio day listening to streaming music from sources such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, and Spotify, 14% listening to YouTube for music, and 10% listening to podcasts. AM/FM radio still takes the largest portion of the audio day on a 13+ basis with 36%, driven heavily by in-car listening.
