Australian podcast listenership hits 9.6 million as blue-collar growth surges

Australia's podcast landscape reached a significant milestone in 2025, with monthly listenership climbing to 9.6 million people aged 15 and older, representing 47% of the population. The findings emerge from PodPoll 2025, conducted by Deadset Studios and market research agency Insightfully during May 2025.

The survey, announced on August 18, 2025, documents a 7% year-on-year increase from 39% in 2024, translating to 1.47 million additional regular listeners. Remarkably, 69% of 25-34-year-olds now consume podcasts monthly, establishing an 8% increase within this demographic and reinforcing the medium's dominance among Millennials.

Blue-collar workers drive unexpected growth

According to Deadset Studios Director Kellie Riordan, the survey reveals "a noticeable jump in the number of tradies and other blue-collar workers who are consuming more episodes per week this year, than they did in 2024." The data shows a 7% increase in combined blue-collar sectors listening to between 5-9 podcast episodes weekly.

Blue-collar workers demonstrate distinct preferences, over-indexing on sports podcasts above other genres while maintaining strong interest in comedy shows and health and wellbeing content. This demographic shift occurs alongside broader consumption patterns where 50% of regular listeners consume 2-4 episodes per week, with 21% listening to 5-9 episodes and 7% consuming more than 10 episodes weekly.

Daily consumption habits strengthen

The survey documents meaningful changes in listening frequency. Daily podcast consumption increased from 25% in 2024 to 29% in 2025, with 2.8 million Australians now incorporating podcasts into their daily media diet. Weekly listening patterns remained stable at 46%, while monthly-only consumption decreased from 28% to 24%.

More than 40% of young Australian men aged 15-34 listen to podcasts daily, highlighting the medium's influence among this demographic. According to Riordan, this demonstrates "how influential podcasts now are in shaping people's opinions and influencing behaviour," particularly considering podcast influence during recent elections in both the United States and Australia.

Platform dynamics reflect video integration

YouTube's emergence as a major podcast platform represents the most significant technical development of 2025. YouTube usage jumped from 30% to 44% year-on-year, while Spotify maintained its position at 58%. Apple Podcasts experienced notable decline, dropping from 28% to 20% market share.

According to Insightfully Managing Director Leanne White, users may not necessarily watch episodes on YouTube but "discover podcast episodes on YouTube thanks to its search engine functionality, but then they're actually just listening to the episode. So in this way they're often using YouTube like they did a radio."

This reflects broader industry trends documented by Edison Research, which began incorporating video consumption data into podcast rankings during 2025.

Content preferences reveal diverse interests

Comedy maintains its position as the most popular genre at 29%, tied with news and current affairs. Crime content follows closely at 28%, while health and wellbeing content reached 27%, securing fourth position. Sports podcasts climbed to 26%, demonstrating growth within the top five categories.

The survey identifies substantial appetite for new content across multiple categories. History, science and environment, lifestyle and leisure, and health and wellbeing genres show significant potential for expansion, with listeners expressing willingness to sample new titles monthly.

According to the findings, 55% of listeners try new podcasts at least monthly, representing an increase from 43% in 2024. This growing appetite for content discovery benefits from social media recommendations, which drive 26% of new podcast discovery, followed by personal recommendations at 20%.

Listening patterns demonstrate stickiness

Podcast consumption demonstrates remarkable completion rates, with 77% of listeners completing episodes "always or most of the time." This engagement metric contrasts sharply with other digital media formats and reinforces the medium's effectiveness for advertisers.

The survey documents shifting preferences toward both extremely short and extremely long content. Episodes under 15 minutes gained 11 percentage points to reach 64% consumption, while content exceeding 60 minutes increased 7% to 65%. These trends suggest audience appetite for both quick information updates and deep-dive content experiences.

More than half (54%) of regular listeners consume 1-3 hours of podcast content weekly, with particular growth among business owners and self-employed individuals. This listening volume increase demonstrates podcast integration into professional and personal routines.

Influence patterns emerge across demographics

The research reveals podcasts' capacity to prompt listener action. According to the survey findings, 44% of listeners recommended podcasts to others, while 42% searched online for topics, people, products or services mentioned in episodes. Significantly, 16% made purchases and 16% took action for causes after listening.

These engagement patterns distinguish podcast listeners as active participants rather than passive consumers. The survey documents higher-than-average rates of activism, with 67% of podcast listeners taking action to support causes compared to 57% among all Australians aged 15 and older.

Young male listeners demonstrate particularly high engagement levels. More than 40% of men aged 15-34 listen daily, positioning this demographic as crucial for brands seeking to influence purchasing decisions and opinion formation.

Marketing implications strengthen

For the marketing community, these findings indicate expanded opportunities within Australia's audio advertising landscape. The growth mirrors global trends documented by PPC Land's coverage of programmatic podcast advertising, where 72% of marketers plan to increase programmatic investment in 2025.

The Australian data reveals a 22% gap between consumer audio engagement and advertiser investment. While consumers dedicate 31% of media time to audio content, advertisers allocate only 9% of budgets to audio platforms, suggesting significant opportunity for reallocation.

Platform developments support this expansion. Spotify's automated buying capabilities now reach 170 million monthly listeners across 12 markets, while new measurement partnerships enable cross-platform campaign planning and optimization.

Technical infrastructure advances

The podcast advertising ecosystem continues developing sophisticated targeting and measurement capabilities. Recent partnerships between Nielsen and Edison Research enable integrated planning across television, radio, digital and podcast inventory within unified platforms.

Programmatic capabilities expand through AI-powered voice cloning technologies that maintain host authenticity while enabling automated scale. These developments address traditional barriers between programmatic efficiency and host-read effectiveness.

Demographic shifts reshape audience composition

The emergence of blue-collar workers as the fastest-growing podcast demographic represents a fundamental shift from traditional early-adopter patterns. This growth occurs across multiple professional categories, with tradespeople showing 13 percentage point increases in 1-3 hour weekly consumption.

Generation Z maintains strong engagement at 58% monthly consumption, while Millennials reached 66%. Generation X participation increased to 44%, with Boomers showing modest growth to 27%. These patterns indicate broad demographic expansion rather than concentration within specific age groups.

Geographic distribution remains concentrated in metropolitan areas, though regional adoption continues growing. The survey methodology includes representative sampling across Australian Bureau of Statistics geographical regions, providing comprehensive coverage of listening patterns nationwide.

Future growth indicators

According to White, Australian podcasting enters "new territory, with the number of regular monthly listeners closing in on ten million." The growth trajectory suggests continued expansion across multiple demographic segments rather than saturation within existing audiences.

The willingness to sample new content, combined with growing production capabilities and advertising investment, indicates sustainable growth potential. Platform integration developments, particularly YouTube's search functionality advantage, position video podcasts for continued expansion.

Industry consolidation affects content availability and advertising opportunities. Recent acquisitions like Audioboom's purchase of Adelicious create larger homegrown networks with enhanced monetization capabilities for local content creators.

Timeline

• May 2025: PodPoll 2025 survey conducted by Deadset Studios and Insightfully among 3,768 Australians aged 15+
• July 11, 2025: Spotify expands automated podcast buying to 170 million listeners across 12 markets
• July 15, 2025: Triton Digital partners with ekoz.ai for AI voice cloning in programmatic podcast ads
• July 17, 2025: Audioboom acquires UK podcast leader Adelicious, creating Britain's largest homegrown network
• August 5, 2025: NPR News Now claims top position in July podcast rankings
• August 6, 2025: Nielsen partners with Edison Research to integrate podcast data into media planning tools
• August 18, 2025: PodPoll 2025 findings announced, revealing 9.6 million monthly podcast listeners in Australia

PPC Land explains

Podcast Listenership: The measurement of individuals who consume podcast content within a specific timeframe, typically measured monthly. In Australia, this metric reached 9.6 million people aged 15 and older in 2025, representing 47% of the population. Monthly listenership provides the most accurate assessment of podcast audience size because it captures regular engagement patterns while accounting for varying consumption frequencies among different demographic groups.

Blue-collar Workers: Manual laborers and tradespeople who have emerged as the fastest-growing podcast demographic in Australia during 2025. This segment includes construction workers, electricians, plumbers, and other skilled trades professionals who demonstrate a 7% increase in consuming 5-9 podcast episodes weekly. Their growth represents a significant shift from traditional early-adopter patterns, with preferences skewing toward sports, comedy, and health content that fits their work environments and lifestyle patterns.

Programmatic Advertising: Automated systems for buying and selling digital advertising inventory using technology platforms and real-time bidding mechanisms. In podcast advertising, programmatic capabilities enable marketers to purchase ad space across multiple shows and platforms without individual relationship management. Recent developments show 72% of marketers plan to increase programmatic investment in 2025, though audio represents only 9% of total programmatic spending despite growing from 7% in 2023.

YouTube Platform Integration: The significant growth of YouTube as a podcast consumption platform, rising from 30% to 44% usage among Australian listeners in 2025. This increase reflects YouTube's search functionality advantages and video podcast capabilities, enabling users to discover content through visual search while often consuming audio-only. The platform's emergence challenges traditional audio-only podcast platforms and influences how content creators develop multi-format strategies.

Daily Listening Habits: Regular podcast consumption patterns that increased from 25% to 29% of Australian listeners between 2024 and 2025. Daily listeners represent 2.8 million people who integrate podcasts into their routine media consumption, with over 40% of young men aged 15-34 listening daily. This frequency indicates strong engagement levels and provides advertisers with consistent audience access for message repetition and brand building campaigns.

Content Genre Preferences: The categorization of podcast content that reveals audience interests and consumption patterns. Comedy and news/current affairs tie at 29% as the most popular genres, followed by crime at 28% and health/wellbeing at 27%. These preferences guide content creators in programming decisions and help advertisers identify relevant inventory for targeted campaigns based on audience interests and demographic alignment.

Episode Completion Rates: The percentage of listeners who finish entire podcast episodes, measured at 77% who complete episodes "always or most of the time" in Australia. This metric demonstrates podcast content's ability to maintain audience attention compared to other digital media formats, making it valuable for advertisers seeking engaged audiences. High completion rates indicate quality content production and listener satisfaction with programming choices.

Demographic Penetration: The percentage of specific population segments that consume podcasts regularly, with notable variations across age groups. Millennials aged 25-34 show the highest penetration at 69%, while Generation Z reaches 58% and Generation X achieves 44%. These penetration rates help advertisers understand audience composition and plan campaigns targeting specific demographic segments based on product relevance and marketing objectives.

Platform Market Share: The distribution of podcast consumption across different listening platforms and applications. Spotify maintains the largest share at 58%, while YouTube's rapid growth to 44% and Apple Podcasts' decline to 20% reshape the competitive landscape. Platform share affects advertiser inventory access, measurement capabilities, and campaign optimization strategies as each platform offers different targeting and analytics features.

Audio Advertising Investment Gap: The documented 22% difference between consumer audio engagement and advertiser budget allocation in Australia. While consumers dedicate 31% of media time to audio content, advertisers allocate only 9% of budgets to audio platforms. This gap represents significant opportunity for budget reallocation and market growth as brands recognize podcast audience quality and engagement levels compared to other media channels.

Summary

Who: PodPoll 2025 was conducted by Deadset Studios and market research agency Insightfully, surveying 3,768 Australians aged 15 and older, with key findings announced by Deadset Studios Director Kellie Riordan and Insightfully Managing Director Leanne White.

What: The survey reveals Australian podcast monthly listenership reached 9.6 million people (47% of population aged 15+), representing a 7% year-on-year increase, with blue-collar workers emerging as the fastest-growing demographic and YouTube gaining significant platform share.

When: The survey was conducted in May 2025, with findings announced on August 18, 2025, showing data comparing 2024 and 2025 consumption patterns and platform preferences.

Where: The research covers Australia nationwide, with data weighted by age, gender and location using Australian Bureau of Statistics Census figures, revealing particularly strong growth in metropolitan areas and among working professionals.

Why: The findings matter for marketers because they document mainstream podcast adoption reaching nearly half the Australian population, reveal a 22% gap between consumer audio engagement and advertiser investment, and demonstrate growing influence of podcasts on purchasing decisions and opinion formation, particularly among young male demographics.