Podcasts have overtaken talk radio in the US, research suggested. A survey found that podcasts accounted for 40% of all spoken-word listening in the fourth quarter of 2025 for American listeners 13 and older, up from 10% in 2015, while AM/FM radio dropped to 39%, down from 75% in 2015. Podcasts are changing in other ways, TechCrunch noted: They increasingly use video as well as audio, with YouTube saying viewers watched 700 million hours of podcasts a month in 2025 on TVs. Audiobooks are growing, too: The percentage of Americans who listen to audiobooks every day went from 3% in 2016 to 8% in 2025.
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Podcasts have overtaken talk radio in the US, research suggested. A survey found that podcasts accounted for 40% of all spoken-word listening in the fourth quarter of 2025 for American listeners 13 and older, up from 10% in 2015, while AM/FM radio dropped to 39%, down from 75% in 2015. Podcasts are changing in other ways, TechCrunch noted: They increasingly use video as well as audio, with YouTube saying viewers watched 700 million hours of podcasts a month in 2025 on TVs. Audiobooks are growing, too: The percentage of Americans who listen to audiobooks every day went from 3% in 2016 to 8% in 2025.
Honestly surprised it took this long