Three stats to know before the release of the Latino Podcast Listener Report
By Edison Research
by Gabriel Soto, Manager of Research
When it comes to Latinos, there is no shortage of audio consumption among ourcommunity. As we are about to see, the same is truefor podcast listening.The irony, however,is in theshortage of resources available to the Latino podcastingmarket.This strong consumption — paired with alack of research –meritsa formal look into the podcast listening terrains of the Latino listening world. This is exactly one reason why we haveteamed up with leaders in the audio space to conduct a study that will provide insights into the podcast listeners and non-listeners of our often simplified, but truly complex, ethnic group.But before we visit those terrains on June 30th, 2020, here are three statistics that demonstrate where podcast listening even stands for Latinos.
To analyze these threelistening habits that will help us contextualize podcast listening amongour community of60 million people(U.S. Census 2018 ACS Estimate)we utilize Edison Research’s Share of Ear®, a quarterly updated study that comprehensively measures daily listening in the audio space.
The following data compares two groups, the U.S. general population ages 13+ (whichincludes U.S Latinos ages 13+) and a subgroup derived from the first, composed of only U.S. Latinos 13+.The term U.S. Latino refers to anyone who identified as Hispanic or Latino in the Share of Ear study. Data reflects Q1 2020 before COVID-19 disruptionif any.
1. On average, U.S. Latinos spend more time with audio eachday than the U.S. population
How much time do Latinos spend listening to audio? How big is our audio world?On average, Latinos listen to an astounding 44 more minutes of audio per day than the general population. The latter spends an average of 3 hours and 53 minutes daily with the medium, while that number skyrockets to 4 hours and 34 minutes if we only look at listening time among Latinos. In this sense, the Latino hourglassis bigger. The figurereveals the mountain of Latino audio listening and its influence on the audio market. It also indicates that Latinos have more time for all forms of audio like music and spoken word (e.g., podcasts).
2. Latinos allocate their audiotime to music vs. spoken-word audio similarly to the general population
On our way toward examining the podcast terrains of the U.S. Latino listener, we pass by a view of music vs. spoken word audio. For a section of theaudio world that has lost some ground to spoken word since 2014, music still accounts for an overwhelming77% share for the U.S. population, leaving the remaining23%of the listening to spoken word audio, which includes media like talk radio, news podcasts, and audiobooks—to name a few. This split is similar when we isolate those who identify as Hispanic or Latino: over four-fifths (81%) of audio listening time goes to music while just under one-fifth (19%) goes to spoken word audio. Now although a smaller proportion of Latino audio listening goes to spoken word audio,we have to rememberthat Latinos spend more time with audio to begin with, so the average time spent listening to spoken word daily manages to equal what the overall population spends with this form of audio.Only by climbing this area of theLatino audio mountaincan we see a clearer picture of where podcast listening stands.
3. On average, U.S. Latinos spend more time with podcasts each day than the U.S. population
Taking only spoken word audio listening,in others words, removing music from the equation, the U.S. total population spends about 18% of that time with podcasts. When we flip to Latinos, theproportion of this time spent with podcasts is about 22% larger, with over one-fifth (22%) of spoken word audio listening dedicated to the booming platform.
These numbers show that Latinos retain a relatively robust listening to podcasts – and more broadly – to audio overall. It is about time to begin exploring and embracing it.
The paradox is that Latinos invest more of their time listening to podcasts than the general U.S. population, yet investment in the Latino podcast market is thin.Imagine the potential if the podcast industry were growing and if the Latino population were growing too – oh wait, that is happening. So, for those looking to be a part of it –click here to find out more information about the upcoming U.S.Latino Podcast Listening Report.