Americans now listen to podcasts more often than talk radio, study shows

Save up to $680 on your pass with Super Early Bird rates. REGISTER NOW.Save up to $680 on your Disrupt 2026 pass. Ends February 27. REGISTER NOW. Latest AI Amazon Apps Biotech & Health Climate Cloud Computing Commerce Crypto Enterprise EVs Fintech Fundraising Gadgets Gaming Google Government & Policy Hardware Instagram Layoffs Media & Entertainment Meta Microsoft Privacy Robotics Security Social Space Startups TikTok Transportation Venture Staff Events Startup Battlefield StrictlyVC Newsletters Podcasts Videos Partner Content TechCrunch Brand Studio Crunchboard Contact Us Podcasts have officially overtaken AM/FM talk radio as the more popular medium for spoken word audio in the United States, according to Edison Research’s Share of Ear survey.The researchers have tracked these statistics over the last decade, and almost always, the percentage of time people spent listening to podcasts increased, while their time with spoken radio broadcasts decreased. For the first time this year, podcasts eclipsed spoken word radio with 40% of listening time, as opposed to 39% for radio.If anything, it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for podcasts to overtake radio shows. (Remember, this doesn’t include listening to music on the radio). But perhaps that speaks more to the durability of good, old-fashioned radio than the merits of podcasting.We checked with Edison to see if these statistics include video podcasts, and they do. But the need to clarify that question points to the undeniable growing prevalence of video podcasts, hosted on platforms like Spotify and YouTube, which marks another key trend in podcasting.Perhaps an industry bellwether, Netflix is inking deals with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports to bring podcasts to the streaming service as a more trendy version of the daytime talk show. It’s not a bad investment — according to YouTube, people watch them on TV. YouTube said that viewers watched 700 million hours of podcasts each month in 2025 on living room devices, like TVs, up from 400 million the previous year.But the popularity of video podcasts doesn’t seem to be detracting from audio-first podcast listening. Triton Digital’s U.S. Podcast Report for 2025 showed that 80% of consumers over 18 years of age tune into both audio and video podcasts; 13% only listen to audio, while 7% only watch video. Listener preferences also appear to vary greatly depending on a podcast’s genre, with podcasts about topics like music, sports, comedy, and news skewing more popular on video. Genres like science, history, arts, fiction, and true crime are more often consumed via audio.Edison’s findings show a similar trend in the role of video in podcasting. Eighty-five percent of weekly U.S. podcast listeners above the age of 13 consume podcasts with any sort of video component, up 7% from 2023. The research also showed that there are an estimated 115 million weekly podcast listeners in the U.S., with only 5% of listeners reporting that they watch podcasts, but don’t listen to them.Topics Senior Writer Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.You can contact or verify outreach from Amanda by emailing amanda@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at @amanda.100 on Signal. Save up to $680 on your pass before February 27.Meet investors. Discover your next portfolio company. Hear from 250+ tech leaders, dive into 200+ sessions, and explore 300+ startups building what’s next. Don’t miss these one-time savings. Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras Bill Gurley says that right now, the worst thing you can do for your career is play it safe The 9,000-pound monster I don’t want to give back Sam Altman would like to remind you that humans use a lot of energy, too Google VP warns that two types of AI startups may not survive Great news for xAI: Grok is now pretty good at answering questions about Baldur’s Gate FBI says ATM ‘jackpotting’ attacks are on the rise, and netting hackers millions in stolen cash © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC.