True crime continues to dominate podcast categories: On Device study
True crime content is the most popular podcast category, with 45% of Australians devoted to the genre, according to a new study from On Device.
The study into Australia’s podcasting landscape found that the majority (53%) of Australians listen to podcasts monthly, with an average listening time of 1.6 hours daily.
Daily podcast listeners were found to be 49% more likely to engage with broadcast radio daily, indicating a synergy between the two audio formats.
Following true crime, other popular categories included humour/comedy (39%), society and culture (25%), TV and film (25%), and education (24%).
The least popular categories included fiction (14%), technology (14%), politics (10%), beauty (10%), and fashion (9%).
“Australia’s podcasting landscape is evolving rapidly, with a significant preference for true crime content suggesting narrative podcasts are a very strong medium for engagement,” said Allan Breiland, ANZ research director at On Device.
“What’s fascinating is the strong correlation between podcast listeners who are also highly likely to tune into broadcast radio, showing the two mediums are complementary and can tap into the different mindsets these channels afford.”
The study found that mobiles are, unsurprisingly, the dominating preferred device with 79% of users, while Spotify and YouTube lead the platform preference, at 54% and 47%, respectively.
While 38% of listeners surveyed appreciate ads for providing free content, 33% expressed concerns over ad clutter, highlighting the need for more effective advertising strategies.
“It’s clear that Australians use podcasts as a way to break away from the daily grind,” Breiland continued.
“Whilst they don’t mind the odd ad, brands and podcast producers should be mindful of over-indexing on the number of ads included in each episode for risk of creating fatigue and losing listeners.”
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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