As of July 2025, a survey found that the most popular podcast genre in the United States was comedy, with ***percent of respondents to a survey stating that they were listening to podcasts designed to make them laugh. Podcasts on news and politics as well as sports were also popular choices.Podcasts are becoming increasingly popularPodcasts have become a go-to form of audio entertainment, with digital episodes on different topics being either streamable or downloadable for easily accessible consumption. The number of podcast listeners within the United States is estimated to surpass a listenership of 100 million consumers in 2028.Podcast market leadersWithin the constantly growing market for podcast, the globally leading podcast publisher in 2024 was iHeartRadio with nearly *** million unique streams and downloads and views. In 2022, a study found that YouTube, Apple Podcast and Spotify were the most popular platforms to access podcast among Americans.

Entertainment was the most popular podcast genre among the 25 to 34 year-olds in the United Kingdom in 2022, with ** percent of listeners. Additionally, comedy ranked second, with ** percent of respondents saying that they listened to the genre.

News and current affairs was the most popular podcast genre among male listeners in the United Kingdom in 2024, with a share of ** percent of regular podcast listeners saying that they listened to podcasts from the genre. It was closely followed by entertainment and comedy, to which ** percent and ** percent of respondents listened to respectively.

According to a survey on mobile entertainment and social media trends in Indonesia in the first half of 2024, Comedy was the most popular podcast genre, as stated by ** percent of respondents. Horror came in second with ** percent of respondents saying so.

A study of podcast consumption in Latin America found that news was the most popular podcast genre, with a listening share of ** percent. Comedy ranked second, accounting for ** percent of listening share.

Entertainment was the most popular podcast genre among 45 to 54 year-olds in the United Kingdom in 2024, with ** percent of the respondents naming it as their favorite genre. In addition, podcast within the genre news and current affairs accounted for ** percent, ranking second.

According to a study from 2024 on podcast consumption in the United Kingdom, discussion and talk shows were the favorite genre among female respondents, with a share of ** percent. The second most popular genre was entertainment, with a share of ** percent of respondents tuning in to each genre.

Comedy was the most popular podcast genre among 35 to 44 year-olds in the United Kingdom in 2024, with a share of ** percent of respondents. Moreover, following in second place was health and wellbeing, with ** percent of respondents listening to the podcast genre.

According to a survey carried out during January 2020, it was found that the podcast genre preferred the most by Italian people aged over 55 years was music. Similarly, ** percent of the respondents stated that they liked listening to podcasts with news content.

From a survey conducted in January 2020, it emerged that ** percent of podcast listeners aged between 35 and 44 years in Italy preferred listening to music podcasts. Furthermore, it was also found that the so-called genre entertainment was popular among ** percent of the respondents.

According to the results of a survey released in 2020, the most preferred podcast genre among males was music, which was listened by ** percent of the respondents. Similarly, news contents were popular among ** percent of Italian male podcast listeners.

According to a 2020 survey, Italian female podcast listeners preferred music contents. The categories news and health & lifestyle followed with ** percent and ** percent of preferences, respectively. By contrast, only *** percent of the respondents stated that they listened to business podcasts.

In 2020, music and news programs were the favorite podcast genres in Italy, with preference rates of ** and ** percent. The survey also revealed that another ** percent preferred entertainment content, as for instance audiobooks.

The most popular podcast genre in Romania in 2020 was comedy, chosen by more than half of respondents. Music podcasts ranked fifth, while 22.5 percent of respondents preferred sports podcasts.

Technology was the most popular genre among male podcast listeners in Poland in August 2019, followed by music and entertainment.

In 2024, a survey on podcast consumption revealed that ** percent of U.S. adults had either listened to or watched a podcast within the last month, a figure which has more than tripled over the past decade. Weekly podcast consumption has also sharply increased, and some of the world’s leading podcast publishers achieve millions of unique streams and downloads per month. Podcast consumption in the U.S. Once a niche format, podcasts have now become part of the mainstream media landscape. Between 2011 and 2025, the share of Americans who had ever consumed a podcast almost tripled, growing from ** to ** percent. As podcasts have grown in popularity, so has the variety of content available in the format. Some of the more popular podcast genres are music and comedy, but tens of millions of U.S. households have fans of sports, science, news and arts podcasts too. Podcasts are often also used as part of marketing strategies or to generate engagement between bloggers, news publications, or even different departments within a company. Like most forms of modern media, podcasts frequently include ads, and podcast ad revenue reached over *** billion U.S. dollars in the United States in 2023. By 2024, it is expected that advertising revenue in this sector will grow by around *** million each year and will exceed *** billion U.S. dollars in 2026. For U.S. consumers, podcasts are not just a source of inspiration or a way to escape from daily life but also an opportunity to educate themselves. In a survey held in early 2019, the majority of respondents said that their main reason for listening to podcasts was to learn new things. There are podcasts on philosophy, history, travel, and business, as well as much more including content aimed solely at educating children.

According to a survey carried out in January 2020, the majority of Italian male podcast listeners utilized the application Spotify for listening to their favorite podcasts (** percent). The platforms Audible and Apple Podcast were also pupular, as they were used by ** and ** percent of the respondents, respectively.

This statistic shows the results of a survey about the most commonly used genre of audio podcast in South Korea as of September 2018. During the survey period, **** percent of respondents stated News and politics as a most commonly used genre of audio podcast.

As of 2021, there were over **** million podcast listeners in the United Kingdom (UK). The audience is growing steadily as the popularity of podcasts increases, with estimate of over ** million listeners by 2026.

Podcast listening behavior and UK trends Over the past decade, podcasts have become one of the most popular forms of (audio) entertainment in the UK. While podcast reach and consumption are as high as ever, podcasts are still most widespread among young audiences, with close to ** percent of UK listeners aged 26 to 35 listening to podcasts on a weekly basis. Correspondingly, a recent survey showed that smartphones are by far the most commonly used device to listen to podcasts. When asked about their podcast listening behavior, a large share of UK audiences stated that they primarily listened to podcasts while driving or traveling.

What is the most popular podcast genre in the UK? Audiences can choose from an ever-expanding catalogue of podcast genres, titles, and formats. Recent surveys indicated that sports and comedy were the most popular podcast genres with male listeners in Great Britain, while comedy and music were the leading genres among female listeners. Overall, News and Weather and Desert Island Discs ranked as most popular radio programs and podcasts in the UK, with ** and ** percent of listeners having a positive opinion of these shows in 2020.

In 2020, Spotify was the most popular platform with Italian podcast listeners aged between 18 and 34 years old (** percent). According to the results of the survey, Audible ranked second with ** percent, while Apple Podcast was used by ** percent of respondents. Lastly, only ** percent of the respondents used the platform or the mobile application of Soundcloud to listen to podcasts.