Stitcher report final_07062021

T H E S T I T C H E R P O D C A S T I N G R E P O R T 2 0 2 1
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Welcome to the second-annual Stitcher Podcasting Report, our yearly look at the podcast
listener from a behavioral data perspective.
Our 2020 report offers a comprehensive look at podcasting listening patterns, user behavior and trends during a most unusual year.
It was compiled using more than two years of data collected directly from the Stitcher App and user-reported data and
demographics from a Stitcher listener survey.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic affected just about everything, including podcast listening. Seeking connection and inspiration
during periods of isolation and social change, listeners turned to podcasts for entertainment and escape, as well as news and
information. With daily routines disrupted, overall listening was down slightly this year, but listeners still found time to get their
podcasting fix. Instead of the historical peak during commuting times, listening was spread throughout the day.
The pandemic didn’t slow the pace of show production. The number of shows grew by 23% in 2020 as celebrities and others
turned to the medium when other activities shut down. And in a year of other major events, from Black Lives Matter protests to
the Presidential race, our search data shows that listeners sought to hear about them in podcast form. Here, you’ll find out which
shows were hot, which are finding new listeners, favorite shows of different demographics, and more.
A survey of Stitcher listeners also revealed interesting differences and similarities between demographic groups. Gen Z (age 13-24)
and Boomers (65+) have a few things in common: both are twice as likely to listen to podcasts because a celebrity, influencer or
other public figure they follow hosts one than other age groups. They are also more likely to listen to “learn more about a topic”
versus 25-55-years-olds.
We’re excited to continue to share data about the evolving podcast listener as we look ahead to a bright listening future. Thanks for
reading!
— The Stitcher Team

About this report
To compile this report, the Stitcher data team analyzed content and listener behavior data collected
directly from the Stitcher App and combined it with user-reported data and demographics from our
Stitcher Survey. Here’s more about our data sources:
Stitcher App data: Because we own a listening platform, the Stitcher App, we have the opportunity to
analyze in-app behavioral data (i.e., the actions users take while inside the app). This includes actions
like the shows they listen to, how long they listen, what time of day they listen, and more. All data is
aggregated across monthly active users. Unless otherwise noted, behavioral data is taken from the
period of January 1 to December 31, 2020.
Stitcher Survey data: We send an annual survey to all of our Stitcher users who have used the app in
the last 12 months. All data that references the Stitcher Survey in this report is based on the nearly
11,000 responses received in 2020. All non-behavioral data in this report (e.g., demographics, years
listened) is therefore self-reported.
Additional data notes
We use several user behaviors to make
comparisons and draw conclusions throughout
the report. For a quick reference, here are some
of the most common:
Binge listen: When a user listens to at least 90%
of three episodes of one show in one day.
Favorited show: A show that a user has clicked
to add to their “Favorites” within the Stitcher
app. New episodes are then automatically
downloaded per the user’s account settings. This
action is also often referred to as “subscribing”
to a show.
Hours listened: The amount of time a user has
spent listening to a show or episode.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Content (pg. 4 – 15)
Chapter 2: Listening Behavior (pg. 16 – 22)
Chapter 3: The Stitcher Listener (pg. 23 – 29)
© 2020 Stitcher
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In 2020, total podcasts published to Stitcher grew by 23%, established shows continued to
serve up new content, and more celebrities jumped into podcasting. Old favorites
continued to keep listeners listening and subscribing. And the success of breakout shows
like Office Ladies and Nice White Parents proved that there is room for new shows to find
big audiences. In this chapter, we track what was hot overall, which shows are finding new
listeners, favorite shows of different demographics—and what listeners were searching for
most.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have
brought much of the world to a
screeching halt, but it didn’t slow
podcasting down much.
S T I T C H E R R E P O R T 2 0 2 1
CONTENT
5

294 299 7,864 17,247
31,335
52,398
78,444
111,980
217,397
356,211
407,488
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Source: Stitcher App data.
*Note: Podcasters must proactively add their show to the Stitcher App, either through their
hosting provider or by uploading to our platform directly.
Total Podcasts Published to Stitcher
GGI
CONTENT
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The number of
shows increased
22.9% from 2019 to
2020.
Number
of
Podcasts
(Cumulative)
Steep growth in content continued in 2020 but fell short of 2019’s record-breaking jump.

*N/A: Show launched October 2019. Source: Stitcher App data.
When ranked by number of listeners, the top 3 shows maintained their 2019 positions.
1
2
3
5
4
1
2
3
4
5
2019
2020
RANK
Top 25 Podcasts Compared, 2019-2020
CONTENT
7
10
17
14
15
21
16
17
18
19
20
2019
2020
RANK
6
7
8
9
10
7
6
8
18
11
2019
2020
RANK
23
12
13
9
N/A
11
12
13
14
15*
2019
2020
RANK
33
20
32
34
91
21
22
23
24
25
2019
2020
RANK
Biggest Mover
Dateline NBC
New to Top 10
Crime Junkie, Conan O’Brien
Needs A Friend
New to Top 25
Office Ladies, Revisionist
History, 99% Invisible, Reply
All, Dateline NBC
Dropped out of Top 25
Last Podcast on the Left, The
Clearing, The Moth, WTF with
Marc Maron, Today Explained
Election Bump?
Pod Save America moved
up 12 spots
Celeb-a-pod-looza
22 of the top 200 new shows
were hosted by celebrities.
Most notably: Rob Lowe,
Jason Bateman, and Zac Braff.

Favorite Shows Across Generations
*Based on the number of “Favorites” (subscribers) per show.
CONTENT
8
This year, we ranked each age group’s new “favorited” shows for 2020 to give a more nuanced look into what listeners connected with.
AGE 13-17
1
2
3
4
5
AGE 18-24
1
2
3
4
5
AGE 25-34
1
2
3
4
5
AGE 45-54
1
2
3
4
5
AGE 35-44
1
2
3
4
5
AGE 55-64
1
2
3
4
5
AGE 65+
1
2
3
4
5
Top 5 New Favorited* Shows in 2020
ALL-TIME FAVORITES
Ear Biscuits has the most
all-time favorites in the
13-17 group. Comedy
Bang! Bang! wins with
18- to 34-year-olds, and
This American Life is the
most favorited show of
all time for the 35+
listeners.
2020 GENRE TRENDS
Younger generations
gravitated to comedy and
talk, while news and
politics did better with
older generations.

Most Favorited Show of All Time
Favorite Shows Across Gender Identities
CONTENT
*Based on the number of “Favorites” (subscribers) per show.
9
Men and women diverged on new favorite shows in 2020, but share common ground in This American Life.
MALE
1
2
3
4
5
FEMALE
1
2
3
4
5
GENDER NON-CONFORMING
1
2
3
4
5 GENDER NON-CONFORMING
MALE
FEMALE

New Listeners vs. Longtime Listeners
CONTENT
10
Newer listeners went for true crime; seasoned listeners were ready to subscribe to new shows.
< 6-month listeners
1
2
3
4
5
6–12-month listeners
1
2
3
4
5
1–2-year listeners
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
5+-year listeners
1
2
3
4
5
This American Life is the most
favorited show of all time for
users listening less than 6 months
and more than 2 years.
Crime Junkie is the all-time
favorite for users who've been
listening for 6 months to 2 years.

Top 20 Podcasts by Binging Hours (2020)
*New to top 20
CONTENT
11
True crime continues to be the most binged genre.
BINGE LISTEN:
When a user listens
to at least 90% of
three episodes of
one show in a day.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
*
11
12
13
14
15
*
*
*
16
17
18
19
20

Top 20 Gateway Shows
Source: Stitcher App data
CONTENT
12
Established favorites bring in new listeners, but the newer Office Ladies almost topped them all.
GATEWAY SHOW:
A Stitcher user’s “first listen”.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
11
Top 20 Mini-Series (2020)*
Mini-Series:
A show that has released 2–12 episodes. Source: Stitcher App data.
*By number of unique listeners.
CONTENT
13
Wondery is still a top maker of short run series, but traditional media outlets are starting to gain ground.
The New York Times The New York Times ABC News FX Networks Pineapple Street Studios HLN WNYC Studios KGW Los Angeles Times Dateline NBC
Wondery True Crime Network Independent Wondery Dateline NBC Wondery Gimlet Wondery Wondery iHeart Radio

The Year in Searches
Total searches on Stitcher in 2020: 22.6 million
CONTENT
14
The top search terms on Stitcher reflected popular shows and genres—and captured the cultural climate of 2020.
1. True Crime
2. Comedy
3. Sleep
4. History
5. News
TOP 5 MOST SEARCHED PODCASTS
TOP 5 MOST SEARCHED PEOPLE
TOP 5 MOST SEARCHED GENRES
Sleepless in 2020: Searches for “sleep” on Stitcher
increased by 11% from March to April and jumped
from #31 to #14 most searched genres. This could
point to the idea that people turn to podcasting as a
mental health/sleep resource.
Can’t get enough crime: “True crime” was in the top
5 searches on Stitcher every month of 2020 and
2019.

Coronavirus, Cults and Q: Top Cultural Searches
CONTENT
15
The most popular culture-related search terms of 2020 reveal the zeitgeist of an extraordinary year.

Listening Behavior
C H A P T E R T W O

With an unprecedented pandemic throwing listeners’ work and school routines into disarray, we
suspected that listening behavior would be impacted along with it—and we were right. In this chapter,
we’ve analyzed Stitcher users' listening behavior to uncover how much and when people listened to
podcasts during an out-of-the-ordinary year and made some comparisons to pre-pandemic patterns.
We also take a look at binge listening habits and find out which listeners graze more for new shows.
Listeners adapted to a new
listening normal.
LISTENING BEHAVIOR
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LISTENING BEHAVIOR
18
Listening Rides the Pandemic Waves
COVID-19 shutdowns had an impact on overall listening time, but hours per listener continued to rise.
Total listening hours per month (2020) Monthly listening hours per listener (2009-2020)
Shutdowns impact listening hours
Total listening hours started strong in 2020, with January and February topping 2019 numbers. Listening dropped slightly in March as COVID-19 emerged. When
shutdowns slashed commutes and upended routines in April, listening dipped more significantly. Listening recovered some as the country started opening back up
in summer, took a smaller dip in August and September, then started a new recovery in the Fall.

LISTENING BEHAVIOR
Power Listeners vs. Average Users
Some podcast fans are truly dedicated, racking up 10 hours of listening time or more every week.
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The 1-5 hour and 5-10 hour listeners listened
even more in 2020 compared to 2019.
Listening time by user group (2020)
Hours
listened/week
(avg.)
% of users
% of total listening hours

LISTENING BEHAVIOR
Average users per hour (2020)
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Casual Listeners Took
Weekends Off
Our 2020 data showed a
24.7% decline in the number
of weekend listeners
compared to 2019, but only a
9.4% dip in minutes per
listener. Our take? Power
listeners were still listening on
the weekends.
When Did We Listen?
Weekdays continued to have more listeners than weekends, with peaks on Tuesdays to Thursdays.
Sunday
12am
5am
10am
3pm
8pm
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Pandemic Listening Changes
LISTENING BEHAVIOR
As commutes were broadly eliminated, users spread their listening throughout the day.
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Average listeners per hour, pre-pandemic Average listeners per hour, during pandemic
Listening dropped most from 7-9 AM and during the 5 o’clock hour.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
12am
5am
10am
3pm
8pm
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
12am
5am
10am
3pm
8pm

Binge Listening Habits
LISTENING BEHAVIOR
BINGE LISTEN:
When a user listens to at least 90% of three episodes of one show
in one day. Excludes episodes less than 1 minute long.
Binge users by day of week
Binging hours by year
Millions
of
hours
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Binging hours dipped slightly from 2019, but is still popular with listeners.
Binge
Users
Average in 2020

The Stitcher Listener
C H A P T E R T H R E E
00

Where do heavy listeners live? What are the differences between Gen Z and Boomer listeners? In this chapter,
you’ll find answers to these questions and more. We dive into state-by-state visualizations of users and listening
hours and uncover a few surprises about which podcasts come out on top in every state. We’ve also spotted
trends about how gender and age affect podcast listening.
At Stitcher, we love our listeners and want to
know more about them.
THE STITCHER LISTENER
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The States of Listening
Percent of total Stitcher users by state (2020)
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People in these
states listen more!
Washington,
Minnesota, Oregon,
Wisconsin, Utah,
Kansas, Maine, New
Hampshire,
Nebraska, Montana,
Vermont, North
Dakota, and Alaska
all rank higher in
listening hours than
they do in the total
number of listeners.
Big population states have more listeners, naturally, but users in Oregon, Alaska and North Dakota listen more
on average.
.22%
11.45%
Hours listened per user by state (2020)

*Includes Washington DC and Puerto Rico.
Men Found (a Little) More Time to Listen
Men listened to slightly more shows per week than women—a switch
compared to 2019—but women still favorited more shows.
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Average number of shows listened per week Average total favorites* by gender Average weekly listening time by gender
*FAVORITE:
A show that a user clicks to add to their “Favorites” within the Stitcher App.
New episodes download automatically.
Average weekly listening hours
Average total favorites
Average number of shows listened
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Generational Divides
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Average total favorites* by age
Avg. total favorites
Age
Hours listened per week
Age
Hours
Average number of shows
listened per week
Avg. number of shows listened
Age
*Favorite: A show that a user clicks to add to their “Favorites” within the Stitcher App. New episodes download automatically.
Gen X listeners (age 45-54) are the most engaged –they favorite the most
shows and listen to more shows per week, but Millennials (age 25-34) listen
almost an hour more per week than other groups.
Stitcher audience
by age

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Stitcher is the best place to listen to, produce and monetize podcasts. The Stitcher app is one of the world’s most popular podcast listening
platforms, with a growing network of original content and a premium subscription service. Stitcher is also parent to Midroll, the leading
podcast advertising network representing over 300 of the world’s largest podcasts. And, it is home to top-ranked comedy podcast network
Earwolf. Stitcher has offices in Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco, and is a subsidiary of SiriusXM.
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Preena Brar
Sarah Breitenother
Amy Fitzgibbons
Asa Jordan
Amy Leibrock
Cameron Maher
Aaron Nestor
Paul Riismandel

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