How long should my podcast episodes be? The popular question is simple, yet the answer is more complicated than you think. Today, we’ve partnered with Ausha to look for some clues within the top shows in the UK.

According to Ausha’s PSO Benchmark and Edison Podcast Metrics, the average episode duration for the top 25 podcasts in the UK is 54 minutes, on par with the average episode length of the top 25 podcasts in the US: 64 minutes.

It’s tempting to say the optimal time hovers around the one-hour mark, but podcasts throughout the top 25 find engagement at different episode lengths. The Joe Rogan Experience and the Diary of a CEO drive up duration, with average lengths over 2.5 and 1.5 hours. Longer episodes suit the shows’ deep-dive format and facilitate tangential conversations with guests. Conversely, the long-running BBC fiction drama, The Archers, keeps its daily episodes to an average of 13 minutes. Writers for The Archers, an audio soap opera, leave listeners hungry for more by packing story arcs into shorter episodes.

With so much variance among the UK’s largest podcasts, know that there is no magic number for episode length. Experimentation is the simplest way to test what’s best for you. Strategic tools like Ausha’s PSO Benchmark and Edison Podcast Metrics help teams make decisions by providing key metrics and benchmarks for your podcast and other similar shows. Be sure to check other learnings from the top 25 podcasts in the UK in the full report.

The post Average Episode Length of the Top 25 UK Podcasts appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Regular readers of this newsletter will not be shocked to hear that total podcast consumption time has grown considerably over the past ten years. But, just how much has total podcast consumption time grown? Share of Ear® from Edison Research at SSRS has that exact answer..

Share of Ear captures how many people listen to podcasts daily, as well as how much time they spend with the medium. These two metrics are combined to create our total podcast consumption time measurement. Back in 2016, the U.S. population 13+ spent 167 million total hours per week with podcasts. Hit shows like My Favorite Murder and Revisionist History were just starting and gaining traction in the ears and hearts of listeners. With the explosion of new podcasts and the development of video podcasts, weekly total podcast consumption time has ballooned to 812 million hours in 2026. Share of Ear captures a 386% increase in time spent with the medium since 2016, equating to roughly 645 million more hours now being spent with podcasts.

Not only has weekly podcast consumption grown over the past ten years, it has increased by 39 million hours since 2025. The 2026 total podcast consumption time measurement was first featured in James Cridland’s Podnews. Subscribe to Podnews and Weekly Insights to stay up to date on global podcast news.

2026 Infinite Dial Australia Captures Resilience of Radio 

Edison Research at SSRS has just released the 2026 Infinite Dial Australia in partnership with Commercial Radio & Audio, LiSTNR, Tapt Media, ACE, Nova Entertainment, and ARN. Findings from this research illustrate the power of Commercial radio in Australia, with the medium reaching more Australians weekly than any other audio source. Commercial radio surpasses other audio platforms by significant margins, reaching four times more Australians weekly than ad-supported Spotify. Streaming radio also plays an important role in the Australian audio landscape, with 1 in 3 Australians 25-54 listening to streamed radio weekly.

The full report also details the growth of podcasts in Australia. The majority (55%) of Australians 10+ now consume podcasts monthly, up from 52% in 2025.

Find more information and download the full 2026 Infinite Dial Australia here.

The post Total Podcast Consumption Time Up 386% Since 2016 appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

The 2026 Infinite Dial measures that 58% of the U.S. 18+ population have ever listened to an audiobook, which is an estimated 157 million people. Each year, the Audio Publishers Association and Edison Research at SSRS collaborate to further understand the existing U.S. audiobook audience.

Listeners are drawn to audiobooks for their convenience, portability, relaxing nature, and lack of screen time. The ability to multitask (86%) and to listen on-the-go (84%) were selected from a long list of options as the top audiobook benefits among those who ever listened. Audiobooks are also enjoyed by consumers because they provide an alternative to screen time (70%).

The 2026 survey covered audiobook engagement, listening habits, genre interest, as well as other topics. Read the broader press release from the APA here. Contact our team to learn more about custom audio research capabilities.

The post Audiobooks Provide Convenience and Time Away from Screens appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

New Data from The Podcast Consumer 2026 

Download The Podcast Consumer 2026 Report

Scroll Down to View the Webinar Recording

Edison Research at SSRS released The Podcast Consumer 2026, its annual in-depth study of the U.S. podcast audience. The findings point to a medium at an inflection point: for the first time, as many weekly podcast consumers are watching as are listening to podcasts. The report also covers how much time the audience spends with audio, what content they are choosing, and how podcasts influence their behavior. 

• Podcast Watching and Listening Are Now Virtually Even 

Video podcast consumption overtook audio-only consumption for the first time in Q3 2025 Edison Podcast Metrics, with 82% of weekly podcast consumers actively watching video compared to 78% listening to audio only. The two formats have been running neck and neck ever since, a dramatic shift from 2023 when 89% of weekly consumers listened to audio only while just 73% watched video. 

• Podcast Audiences Are Heavy Audio Consumers 

Daily podcast consumers spend 5 hours and 11 minutes per day with all audio sources, according to Edison’s Share of Ear study (Q1 2026). That’s over an hour more than the 3 hours and 57 minutes per day spent with all audio sources by Americans ages 13+. 
 
Daily podcast consumers spend 36% of their daily audio time with podcasts and 51% of their daily ad-supported audio time with podcasts. 

• Podcasts Have Proven Ad Impact 

Seventy-six percent of weekly podcast consumers say they have acted as a result of hearing a podcast ad, including visiting a website, making a purchase, using a promo code, or recommending a product.  

Shifting a portion of ad budget to podcasts can increase reach. A real-world media mix analysis found that reallocating budget to podcasts lifted reach among adults 18–54 by 41%, with no increase in spend, according to Nielsen Podcast Fusion powered by Edison Podcast Metrics. 

• Podcast Consumers Have Nuanced Views on AI 

Podcast consumers have strong feelings about generative AI, and the data is nuanced. Consumers are largely open to AI handling behind-the-scenes production tasks: 69% approve of AI being used to conduct research, and 69% approve of AI being used to brainstorm ideas. However, they also have concerns: 62% of weekly podcast consumers consider AI a threat to the credibility of podcasts, and 59% see it as a threat to creativity. 

Vice President Megan Lazovick presented findings from the study, which combines research from The Infinite Dial®, Share of Ear®, Edison Podcast Metrics, and Sports Poll by SSRS. 

Lazovick said, “This presentation represents just a fraction of the research we conduct to understand the U.S. podcast consumer. The growth of this medium has been an incredible thing to watch, and the data continues to show an audience that is deeply engaged, fiercely loyal, and growing every year.” 

The post The Podcast Consumer 2026 appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Video streaming platforms have become increasingly involved in the podcast space, with Netflix and Tubi jumping into the podcast pool in January of 2026. Just last week, Netflix announced a deal potentially worth up to $100 million with Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, resulting in video versions to be available only on Netflix and Spotify. Tubi has also reached deals with Audiochuck, home of Crime Junkie and The Deck, as well as SiriusXM, which includes Rotten Mango, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and What Now with Trevor Noah in its podcast portfolio. While there is constant development and change in the space, only Edison Podcast Metrics can tell us how much consumption is happening on these platforms among U.S. weekly podcast listeners 13+.

In Q1 of 2026, Edison Podcast Metrics added Netflix and Tubi to its list of trended podcast services. From this first wave of data, 14% of weekly podcast consumers have used Netflix to consume podcasts, and 4% have used Tubi. Keep in mind that other media platforms, such as YouTube and Spotify, are much more popular destinations for podcast consumption, with 64% and 42% of weekly podcast consumers respectively ever using them to consume podcasts.

As new distribution deals between podcast publishers, creators, and platforms emerge, it will be interesting to see if and how this data changes. Results for Q2 2026 will be available to subscribers this summer. Contact our team to learn more about an Edison Podcast Metrics subscription.

The Podcast Consumer 2026 Webinar is Today! 

Tune in today, June 3rd, at 2pm ET to see The Podcast Consumer 2026, from Edison Research at SSRS. Today’s webinar will offer a look at the U.S. podcast audience through multiple lenses, including:

• Reach of podcasts among U.S. consumers from The Infinite Dial®
• Share of daily time spent with podcasts from Share of Ear®
• Content preferences from Edison Podcast Metrics
• And more!

Megan Lazovick, Vice President, Edison Research at SSRS, will present The Podcast Consumer 2026.

The post How Popular is Podcast Consumption on Netflix and Tubi? appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Brand new data from AI User Metrics, a subscription service from Edison Research at SSRS, measures monumental growth in weekly AI usage among Americans 18+. AI User Metrics fields twice a month to capture overall AI platform awareness and usage, with tracking data back to Q1 of 2026.

In February of this year, we published an insight showing that 52% of Americans use any AI chatbot weekly. The latest AI User Metrics release shows a significant increase in weekly AI usage, jumping from 52% to 65%. Overall, an estimated 175.5 million American adults use AI weekly, an increase of over 35.6 million people over the past three months. It’s hard to think of any recent media platform or technology that has experienced the same or similar growth in such a short amount of time.

Subscribers to AI User Metrics not only have access to all existing and future waves of data, they also can understand which specific audiences are driving this growth in usage. More results and findings from the latest release of AI User Metrics can be found in our May 2026 AI User Metrics Report. AI User Metrics leverages the probability-based SSRS Opinion Panel, with 100+ demographic variables to append the data, accurately measuring American adoption of AI. Contact our team to learn more about AI User Metrics and our other AI research.

Register Now for The Podcast Consumer 2026 Webinar 

Register for the latest webinar from Edison Research at SSRS: The Podcast Consumer 2026. Presented by Megan Lazovick, Vice President, Edison Research at SSRS, The Podcast Consumer 2026 will offer a look at the U.S. podcast audience through multiple lenses, including:

• Reach of podcasts among U.S. consumers from The Infinite Dial®
• Share of daily time spent with podcasts from Share of Ear®
• Content preferences from Edison Podcast Metrics
• And more!

The Podcast Consumer 2026 will be presented on Wednesday, June 3rd at 2pm ET.

The post Weekly AI Usage Up 36 Million Americans in Three Months appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett,  
and The Rest Is Politics remain in the top three spots 

Glen Mills, PA, USA, May 27, 2026 – Edison Research at SSRS announces the Top 25 Podcasts in the UK from Edison Podcast Metrics based on reach for the first quarter of 2026 among weekly podcast listeners ages 15+.  

The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, and The Rest Is Politics top the list, as they did in Q4 2025. The top four shows remain in the same rank order as Q4, with other rank changes in the Top 10 noted below parenthetically. The full list of Top 25 podcasts is below.

1. The Joe Rogan Experience  
2. The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett   
3. The Rest Is Politics  
4. The Rest Is History    
5. Newscast (+2 rank position since Q4 2025)
6. The Rest Is Football
7. That Peter Crouch Podcast (-2 rank position since Q4 2025)
8. The News Agents (+5 rank position since Q4 2025)
9. Americast (+10 rank position since Q4 2025)
10. Crime Junkie

Two BBC news podcasts hit a record high. Newscast breaks into the top five and Americast into the top ten. Both podcasts covered stories on the Iran War, Maduro’s capture, and ICE Protests in the U.S   

Two sports podcasts also reach their highest rank on record: The Overlap and Stick to Football.

ZOE Science & Nutrition climbed 86 ranks to enter the top 25 for the first time. The show was nominated for an IHeart best-branded podcast award in 2026. ZOE was in the spotlight in Q1 2026 after the ASA upheld a ban on a ZOE ad that claimed its supplement was “just real food.”

Mel Robbins breaks into the top 25 in the UK. Robbins was named a TIME 2026 Woman of the Year in March.

About Edison Podcast Metrics 

Edison Podcast Metrics is unique in that it is not dependent on podcast download data and does not require podcast networks to opt into its service. At least 2,000 weekly podcast consumers in the UK are surveyed each quarter, and listening behavior is collected regardless of listening platform. The same methodology is being employed in the UK as is used in the U.S.   

Data from Edison Podcast Metrics UK provides show-level information on the top podcasts in the UK. Subscribers can analyze demographics, psychographics, and purchase-behavior information of weekly podcast consumers. The first Top Podcast Shows ranker in the U.S. was released by Edison Research in November 2019; the company has been tracking podcast consumption in the aggregate since 2006.  

For more information on how to become a subscriber to the full datasets, please contact info@edisonresearch.com. 

About Edison Research at SSRS

Edison Research at SSRS conducts survey research and provides strategic information to a broad array of clients worldwide, having conducted research in 66 countries. Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial® series has been the survey of record for digital audio, social media, podcasting, smart speakers, and other media-related technologies since 1998. The company’s Share of Ear® survey is the only single-source measure of all audio in the U.S. Edison Research is the leading podcast research company in the world, producing the only survey-based data on podcast listening in the U.S, Edison Podcast Metrics, and has conducted research for many companies in the space. 

The post The Top 25 Podcasts in the UK for Q1 2026 appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Glen Mills, PA, May 21, 2026 – Edison Research at SSRS announces that The Podcast Consumer 2026 will be presented in a webinar on Wednesday, June 3 at 2pm ET. 

Register for The Podcast Consumer 2026 

Backed by an unmatched depth of original research, Edison Research at SSRS delivers a comprehensive view of podcast consumption in the U.S. 

Megan Lazovick, Vice President, Edison Research at SSRS, will present The Podcast Consumer 2026, offering a look at the podcast audience through multiple lenses, including:

• Reach of podcasts among U.S. consumers from The Infinite Dial®
• Share of daily time spent with podcasts from Share of Ear®
• Content preferences from Edison Podcast Metrics
• And more!

The Podcast Consumer report is an essential resource for marketers, advertisers, content creators, and anyone looking to make a compelling case for the power of podcasting.

The post Edison Research at SSRS Webinar: The Podcast Consumer 2026 appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

For over a decade, the Edison Research at SSRS Share of Ear® study has tracked the development of radio listening via streams. As of Q1 2026, streamed AM/FM radio accounts for 14% of all daily time spent listening to AM/FM Radio. The remaining time with AM/FM Radio goes exclusively to over-the-air sources.

Another of Edison’s flagship research studies, The Infinite Dial, also tracks the development of AM/FM Radio streaming, but in a different fashion. For the last three years, The Infinite Dial has asked about weekly listening to both over-the-air radio on a traditional receiver and listening to the streams via smartphones, smart speakers, or other digital devices. As of 2026, 30% of all weekly radio listeners listened to a stream for at least part of their radio time, while 70% listened exclusively via traditional AM/FM. This 30% figure is a considerable increase from our estimate of 19% of all radio listeners just two years ago.

Edison Research at SSRS has a wide variety of audio measurement products that capture the entire listening landscape. Contact our team to learn more about a Share of Ear subscription and find the full 2026 Infinite Dial report, from Edison Research at SSRS and SiriusXM Media, here.

The post Growth of Streamed AM/FM Radio Sources appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

The Infinite Dial from Edison Research is America’s longest running survey of digital media consumer behavior, tracking behaviors since 1998. Our insight this week highlights what percent of monthly online audio listeners are also weekly consumers, and how that has changed over time.

Online audio sources have emerged as wildly popular listening platforms and services, significantly changing how Americans engage with music and spoken-word content throughout their day. In 2006, a little more than half (57%) of U.S. monthly online audio listeners age 12+ also listened weekly. Over the next 20 years, the conversion of monthly online audio listeners to weekly has increased steadily. In 2026, 94% of monthly online audio audiences listen weekly, illustrating how online audio consumption has become a habitual part of Americans’ lives.

The growth in reach and engagement of online audio is just one example of the many interesting datapoints The Infinite Dial holds. The 2026 Infinite Dial study from Edison Research, sponsored by SiriusXM Media, showcases numerous changes in how our society uses media and technology. Find the 2026 full report and webinar here.

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