OTTAWA — Ahead of International Podcast Day on September 30, CBC/Radio-Canada’s Media Technology Monitor (MTM) released today a new report on the podcast listening habits of English Canadians, which finds podcasts remain a sizeable piece of the online audio market among Anglophones.
According to MTM’s report, listenership among English Canadians has grown more than 50% from the fall of 2017 when 20% of those surveyed then saying they listened to podcasts, compared to 30% of respondents in fall 2019 saying they do so.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study found people who use public transit or walk to work are more likely to listen to podcasts than those who drive or don’t commute. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of podcasts in spring 2020 slightly declined as many Canadians were no longer commuting to work on a daily basis.
MTM’s study also found podcast listeners are audiophiles and are more likely than the average Anglophone to listen to music on YouTube, music streaming services and AM/FM radio streams.
When it comes to audio discoverability, listeners tend to find out about new podcasts primarily by word-of-mouth, according to MTM. More than two in five listen to new podcast content based on recommendations from their friends, family and colleagues, the study found. Social media is the second most popular discovery method, followed by recommendations from podcast apps.
MTM also looked at Francophones’ podcast listening habits in a separate study, which found one in six French Canadians listen to podcasts. Although podcasting is gaining popularity in the French-speaking market, it still remains behind other forms of online audio content such as music on YouTube, music streaming services and online AM/FM radio. The study also found French podcast listeners are almost twice as likely to use music streaming services as the average Francophone.
When it comes to podcast discoverability, while English Canadians rely more on recommendations from those around them, Francophones are just as willing to turn to social media to discover new podcasts as listen to the recommendations of friends and family, according to MTM.
For more information and to access MTM’s reports (subscription required), please click here.
