CRA reveals rise in podcast listening & launches monthly ranking chart

Radio still rules in Australia as far as audio entertainment consumption is concerned – but podcasts are catching up.

What’s more, the commercial radio sector has entered new partnerships to grow podcast take-up even more.

This was announced this morning during the opening keynote at Radio Alive 2019 in Brisbane.

The fourth annual GfK Share of Audio study revealed that radio accounts for 61.3% of daily listening, amounting to on average 2 hours and 7 minutes per day.

Streaming remains second at 15.0%, or 31 minutes a day,

But podcasts have jumped up to third spot, with a 7.3% share (or 15 minutes) of listening, up from 3.8% (seven minutes) previously.

They have overtaken the listening of owned music, which includes CDs and digital purchases, on 7.0%.

“We’ve seen an overall resurgence of audio with radio staying dominant and podcast listening enjoying a big jump,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia.

“For the first time in history, consumers are spending more time listening to podcasts than to their own music collections.”

Australia’s Top 100 Podcasts

With the growing interest in podcasts, Radio Alive was chosen to launch the first monthly Australian Podcast Ranker this morning.

Warner’s announced the new chart during her keynote, and revealed that it will provide a first look at Australia’s top 100 most downloaded and listened to podcasts.

The first edition of the ranker covers the month of September, with podcasts accounting for 10 million downloads in Australia during the four week reporting period.

The ranker has started with a foundation group of podcast publishers including News Corp Australia, PodcastOne Australia, NOVA Entertainment, Southern Cross Austereo, Australian Radio Network, Macquarie Media and SEN/Crocmedia.

A number of additional publishers, including the ABC, will join the ranker in the next couple of months, and all podcast producers with Australian and international content are invited to participate.

IAB Tech Lab-certified global audio technology services provider Triton Digital has been appointed to provide measuring and reporting services for the ranker.

Warner explained, “One of the main objectives of the Australian Podcast Ranker is to increase awareness for consumers and therefore grow podcast consumption, while also creating a framework and guide to assist advertisers to understand opportunities within the podcasting space.

“This work was initiated by the radio industry because of the significant investment made by radio broadcasters in the podcast space, not only into catch-up radio podcasts but into original content outside of the radio offering.”

The September Australian Podcast Ranker is available online now, with The Hamish & Andy Podcast perhaps unsurprisingly sitting top of the tree.

It is joined in the Top 3 by Nova’s Kate, Tim & Marty catchup podcast and SCA’s The Rub.

Podcast listeners are most likely to be under 40, managers and professionals, and parents with children under 17.

Google Partners With CRA

Also announced at Radio Alive was a new partnership struck by Commercial Radio Australia with Google to make it simple listeners to find and listen to live streams of Australian radio stations on Google Nest devices.

More than 300 Australian AM, FM and DAB+ digital radio stations get easier access, including Nest Home, Nest Mini, Nest Max and Nest Hub Max via voice command.

“The Australian radio industry is delighted to have entered this partnership with Google to ensure our live and local content is easily discoverable and accessible on Google Nest devices,” said Warner.

The announcement follows Infinite Dial Research that found 2.7 million Aussies (13%) own a smart speaker.

”Google Australia has shown an openness and willingness to work closely with us as an industry to ensure consumers have the best radio experience with their voice assisted devices.”