US Podcasting Downloads Continue To Increase

Currently, 19% of all US internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they could listen to it or view it later. This most recent percentage is up from 12% of US internet users who reported downloading podcasts in Pew’s August 2006 survey and 7% in its February-April 2006 survey.

These results come from a telephone survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project from April 8 – May 11, 2008 of 2,251 adults. The portion of the survey that covered podcast downloading was administered to 1,553 internet users.

Men continue to be more likely than women to download podcasts; 22% of online men compared with just 16% of online women report ever having downloaded a podcast. However, men and women are equally likely (3%) to download podcasts on a typical day.

Age differences are more defined with regard to podcast downloading than they were in 2006 when all age groups, except for those 65 and older, were almost equally likely to download podcasts.

Now, the dividing line is around the age of 50, with internet users under 50 years old significantly more likely than older users to download podcasts. Fully 23% of those under 50 say they have ever downloaded a podcast and 4% downloaded one yesterday, compared with 13% and 1% of their older counterparts. Since 2006, younger generations have more fully embraced the technology, their percentages nearly doubling since 2006.

Internet users with broadband and premium broadband access at home are also significantly more likely than the average internet user to have ever downloaded a podcast.

Mobile web usage is not only gaining traction in the United States but soon will surpass the UK, according to recent data released by Bango (see US Mobile Web Usage To Overtake UK).

According to Bango, the top five countries accessing the mobile web via Bango in July 2008 were the UK at 19.35%, the US at 18.88%, India at 10.82%, South Africa at 8.82% and Indonesia at 4.08%.