Four out of five U.S. adults have listened to or watched a podcast

2025 was a huge year for podcasts. Major consumer tech platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Apple, Netflix, and Hulu spent freely to assemble original podcast lineups and develop technology that can optimize and monetize those shows.

Now, thanks to Edison Research, we can quantify the amount of growth that has come to the podcasting industry over the past year. The data firm has published the 2026 edition of its Infinite Dial report, and for podcasters, the topline numbers are all in the green. Consumption is up, it’s becoming more frequent, and it’s diversifying across audio and video formats.

Edison Research composed its Infinite Dial report by surveying a cohort of Americans over the age of 12. A record number of those Americans — 80% of them, to be precise — have either listened to or watched a podcast. And if you believe those consumers are listening once and moving on, think again. 76% of Americans listened to online audio in the week leading up to Edison’s survey.

Those figures build on the undeniable momentum Edison measured in last year’s Infinite Dial report. One of the key results from that survey was the growth of podcasting among older consumers

, and Americans over the age of 55 are still active listeners. One year after 38% of 55+ respondents identified themselves as monthly podcast consumers, that percentage jumped all the way up to 58%.

Video podcasting continues to rise as well. For the first time, more than half of Edison’s respondents (57%) said that they have both listened to and watched a podcast.

“Video isn’t replacing podcast audio. It’s expanding the tent,” said Edison Research VP Megan Lazovick in a statement. “Whatever your feelings on video podcasts, the data is clear: this is a dual-format medium now.”

Edison Research’s findings are great news for podcasting professionals, but as big as audiovisual programming has become, even it can’t match the market penetration of artificial intelligence. 93% of Americans are familiar with at least one generative AI brand. Edison has been measuring podcasts for 20 years, but in all that time, the format’s awareness has never been as high as 93%.