1BackgroundFrom highly personalized niche programs to brand extensions from major media networks, podcasting is where millions of media consumers are turning to for information, entertainment, and connection to the world. In fact, one out of three Americans has listened to a podcast in the past month, according to Edison Researchs annual Infinite Dial study.Advertisers are taking notice of this substantial audience, as three out of four advertising media decision makers have discussed advertising in podcasts, according to an Advertiser Perceptions study commissioned by Westwood One. Yet, very little research has been done on the advertising environment within podcasts, including best practices for increasing listener engagement and brand impact.Westwood One commissioned a study of weekly podcast listeners and their perceptions about the advertisements that they hear within podcasts. This study was created in conjunction with MARU/Matchbox, a nationally recognized leader in consumer research. This is the third annual study in our Fall Podcast Download series.This study was fielded online using a nationally representative sample of 601 respondents who met the following criteria: Adults over the age of 18 All respondents spent at least one hour listening to podcasts within the past week Respondents were not employed in the advertising, public relations, marketing, market research, radio, television, digital, or podcasting industries Surveys were conducted between July 29, 2019 and August 10, 2019W E S T W O O D O N E S P O D C A S T D O W N L O A D F A L L 2019 2Key findings Podcast Newcomers, those who started listening to podcasts in the past 6 months, skew younger and female. Women are catching up to men in podcast listening. Since July 2017, average weekly time spent and the average number of podcast episodes listened to and downloaded are all up. Male audience levels are stable. Brands looking to reach cord-cutters can find them in podcasting. Millennials 18-34 and female weekly podcast listeners are more likely to be cord-cutters. Live podcast events provide brands and podcast shows with the opportunity to reach devoted podcast listeners through a new avenue and create branded integrations. Growth in smart speaker usage for podcast listening lags behind that of smart speaker ownership. Podcast Newcomers and heavy podcast listeners use more platforms and a diverse set of platforms to access podcasts. Podcast Pioneers (started listening to podcast 4+ years ago) tend to mainly use Apple Podcasts. Weekly podcast listeners prefer ads voiced by the shows host over pre-produced traditional ads especially Millennials 18-34 and women. Yet, IAB reports there has been a rise in pre-produced ads.W E S T W O O D O N E S P O D C A S T D O W N L O A D F A L L 2019 3Podcasts whos listening? Source: Edison Infinite Dial 2019, persons 12+Weekly 22% of America 8% of AmericaHeavyhoursa week6+hoursa week1+4Weekly podcast listener profile5Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?” of total weekly podcast listeners are Podcast Pioneers25%Total (weekly podcast listeners)PodcastPioneers(4+ years ago)Millennials (A18-34) 51% 38%Gen X (A35-49) 31% 38%Boomers (A50-64) 14% 19%Seniors (A65+) 5% 5%Male 51% 64%Female 49% 36%Apple mobile owner 56% 51%Android mobile owner 41% 45%Total (weekly podcast listeners)PodcastPioneers(4+ years ago)Heavy podcast listener (6+ hrs/week) 36% 48%Heavy AM/FM listener (8+ hrs/week) 33% 32%Heavy TV streaming viewer (11+ hrs/week) 27% 27%Total (weekly podcast listeners)PodcastPioneers(4+ years ago)Average weekly time spent with podcasts (hrs) 5.9 7.1Average number of podcasts downloaded in the past week3.4 4.4Average number of podcasts listened to in the past week4.7 5.7% who started 4+ years agoPodcast Pioneers tend to be older, male and heavy podcast listenersHow to read: 64% of Podcast Pioneers (those who started listening to podcasts 4 or more years ago) are men.Source: Westwood One's Podcast Download Fall 2019 Report, Westwood One, MARU/Matchbox National Study July 2019Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?” 6Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?” of total weekly podcast listeners are Podcast Newcomers13% who started in the past 6 monthsPodcast Newcomers tend to be younger and femaleHow to read: 57% of Podcast Newcomers (those who started listening to podcasts in the past 6 months) are women.Total (weekly podcast listeners)Podcast Newcomers(past 6 months)Millennials (A18-34) 51% 61%Gen X (A35-49) 31% 19%Boomers (A50-64) 14% 14%Seniors (A65+) 5% 6%Male 51% 43%Female 49% 57%Apple mobile owner 56% 54%Android mobile owner 41% 42%Total (weekly podcast listeners)Podcast Newcomers(past 6 months)Heavy podcast listener (6+ hrs/week) 36% 29%Heavy AM/FM listener (8+ hrs/week) 33% 33%Heavy TV streaming viewer (11+ hrs/week) 27% 28%Total (weekly podcast listeners)Podcast Newcomers(past 6 months)Average weekly time spent with podcasts (hrs) 5.9 5.0Average number of podcasts downloaded in the past week3.4 2.4Average number of podcasts listened to in the past week4.7 3.6Source: Westwood One's Podcast Download Fall 2019 Report, Westwood One, MARU/Matchbox National Study July 2019Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?” 7It takes years for podcast listeners to become regular weekly listenersSource: Westwood One's Podcast Download Fall 2019 Report, Westwood One, MARU/Matchbox National Study July 2019Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?”Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts on a weekly basis?”Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts on a weekly basis?”(% of total weekly podcast listeners)How to read: 13% of weekly podcast listeners first started listening to podcasts in the past 6 months. 33% of weekly podcast listeners first started listening to podcasts on a weekly basis in the past 6 months.Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?”(% of total weekly podcast listeners)13%24%39%25%4+ years agoIn the past 6 months2-3 years agoIn the past 7-12 months33%33%22%13%4+ years ago2-3 years agoIn the past 7-12 monthsIn the past 6 monthsFirst started listening to podcasts First started listening to podcasts weekly8Weekly podcast listeners: Millennials skew female and 35-64 skew maleHow to read: 56% of weekly podcast listeners are Apple mobile owners.Source: Westwood One's Podcast Download Fall 2019 Report, Westwood One, MARU/Matchbox National Study July 2019Q: “In the past week, approximately how many hours, if any, did you spend listening to podcasts?”% of respondents July 2019Total (weekly podcast listeners)Heavy podcast listeners(6+ hrs/week)Millennials(A18-34)Gen X(A35-49)Boomers(A50-64) Men WomenMedian age 34 34 28 39 55 37 32Men 51% 59% 41% 62% 60% 100% Women 49% 41% 59% 38% 40% 100%Podcast Pioneers (4+ years ago) 25% 33% 18% 30% 33% 31% 18%Podcast start: 2-3 years ago 39% 42% 42% 42% 29% 40% 37%Podcast start: past 7-12 months 24% 14% 24% 20% 25% 17% 30%Podcast Newcomers (past 6 months) 13% 11% 16% 8% 13% 11% 15%Apple mobile owner 56% 53% 60% 54% 42% 61% 66%Android mobile owner 41% 45% 38% 41% 49% 39% 32%964%53%37%43%36%47%63%57%Podcast Pioneers(4+ years ago)Podcast start:2-3 years agoPodcast start:past 7-12 monthsPodcast Newcomers(past 6 months)Male composition (%) Female composition (%)How to read: 63% of weekly podcast listeners who started listening to podcasts 7-12 months ago are women.Source: Westwood One's Podcast Download Fall 2019 Report, Westwood One, MARU/Matchbox National Study July 2019Q: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?”Newer weekly podcast listeners skew heavily female, Podcast Pioneers skew maleQ: “When did you first start listening to podcasts?” gender composition (%)10