Yearning For Connection, New Perspectives, Not Singing Along

Michael Hedges November 22, 2021 Follow on Twitter

The analytic mind in the Western intellectual tradition tends to examine all things through contrast. How is this bird different from that one? In time, ages actually, that exploration helped reveal much about human behavior. To better sell products and services market segmentation is the natural extension. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

US-based Edison Research in cooperation with US public radio program network NPR recently released (November 11) its 2021 Spoken Word Audio Report, a survey of US spoken word audio services usage; news, sports, talkshows, audiobooks, podcasts, radio drama and such. When linked with Edison’s Share of Ear survey, about 4,000 on and offline interviews were conducted primarily during the last half of August. NPR supplies programming to public radio operators, much of which is spoken word.

It comes as no surprise - to most - that spoken word audio is a growing market segment. Just under half (45%) of US persons over 13 years are daily spoken word audio listeners, growing 40% since the initial 2014 survey. Audio content is not limited to traditional radio broadcasting. “Mobile listening has increased 278% over the past seven years,” said the NPR statement, “with one-third (34%) of all time spent listening to spoken word audio being done on a mobile device.” Podcasts receive considerable attention in the report. “Of all spoken word audio consumed by those 13+, 22% of it is to podcasts, a 176% increase over seven years ago (8%).“

Increased spoken word audio usage is being driven by “young and multicultural audiences,” said the report. They are attracted by “connection, education, new perspectives and self-improvement” as well as the ability to multitask, like driving an automobile or cooking, traditional advantages of radio broadcasting. Correlated - perhaps - with increased spoken word audio usage since 2014 music listening has dropped from 80% to 72%.

Spoken word audio is less and less the domain of US analogue broadcasting: AM and FM. For several decades talk radio, notably with fire-breathing show hosts, drew reasonably large, though specific, audiences. That has slipped considerably, said the Edison/NPR report. In just seven years, the analogue radio platform share for spoken word audio has fallen to 48% from 79%. Listening to spoken word audio on mobile devices through the same period increased by 278%. Highlighted is the 800% increase among persons 55 years and older, considered the prime US talk radio listener.

“The increase in non-music audio listening also presents a major threat to a music industry used to benefiting from all background and casual audio listening,” said music industry observer Bruce Houghton in US music business news portal Hypebot (November 16). Said one Edison/NPR survey respondent: “I guess I used to only listen to music, but now I think I listen to people talk more. Because I think it's probably a side effect of pandemic, you just want that more human connection, I guess.”

Obviously, the US media landscape is distinct from the rest of the world, but not altogether separate. Publishers, broadcasters and marketers everywhere (almost) have flooded the zone with podcasts. The reasoning is simple: podcasts distributed through mobile phone apps can come with paywalls, unlike broadcast radio. And, too, subscriptions collect data, beloved by media buyers. Audiobooks are similar, just longer. Amazon and Apple have been in that business for several years, Spotify jumping in recently. The long, slow decline of traditional radio listening - illustrated in reputable audience estimates - began before the coronavirus pandemic and related disruptions.

See also...

• Hot Topics - Radio Audience
• Hot Topics - Podcasts and Podcasting

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