70% of Canadians are listening online audio

70% of Canadians are listening online audio; 37% of Canadians age 18 and older are monthly podcast listeners; 18% have listened to online audio in-car; 26% of those in Canada age 18+ own at least one smart speaker. These are the numbers revealed this month in the study The Infinite Dial Canada 2020.

“We are proud to once again unveil the latest insights and trends around media usage and consumption in Canada,” said Stephanie Donovan, SVP, Publisher Development North America at Triton Digital. “Broadcast radio listeners remain loyal to the brand, but with one in five Canadians having listened to broadcast radio online in the last month, it’s clear the technology through which they choose to consume is changing.”

The Infinite Dial Canada 2020 study found also that half of adult podcast listeners in Canada have listened to a podcast from a public radio producer, and 14% of those in Canada age 18+ own a Google Home smart speaker, 11% own an Amazon Alexa, and 3% own an Apple HomePod.

The dominant brand of online audio is Spotify, with 28% of Canadian adults listening to Spotify in the past month, compared with Apple Music at 13% and Google Play Music at 11%. Of those who use various online audio brands, 37% say they use Spotify most often.

“We observed some strong gains in many of our key audio metrics, from podcasting to smart speaker ownership. Canada is amongst the leaders in the world in terms of digital audio consumption,” said Tom Webster, Senior Vice President at Edison Research.

Last year, the study Infinite Dial concluded that German digital audio market was lagging 4 years behind the USA, and that Australians are listening more audio: 11 hours per week.