Podcasting in the US is rising in popularity, with new figures from Bridge Ratings showing that 4.8 million listeners have used the new media channel so far this year, forecasted to reach 5 million by the end of 2005, compared to just 820,000 in 2004.
The survey also showed that around 20% of users who have ever downloaded a podcast do so on a weekly basis, with respondents claiming to download an average of six podcasts per week and spending roughly four hours a month listening to podcasts.
A similar study by research company, Diffusion Group, earlier this year, forecast the number of US podcast listeners to reach 4.5 million this year, growing to 56.8 million in 2010, while Forrester Research predict podcasting to reach 12.3 million US households by 2010 (see Satellite Radio To Reach Over 20.1 Million US Households By 2010).