The Gender Gap in Podcasts Is Closing, but More Representation Is Needed

Edison Research and SXM Media, home to audio apps Pandora and Stitcher, released The Women’s 2022 Podcast Report, outlining how the gender gap in podcast listening is closing and how women are more receptive to ads on female-hosted podcasts. According to the report, more than 1 in 3 U.S. women (35%) over the age of 18 have listened to a podcast in the last month, which has risen to 67% over the last five years, representing nearly 47 million women. In 2017, only 44% of U.S. monthly podcast listeners over 18 years old were women. That figure rose to 48% in 2022, per the report, which more closely mirrors the U.S. population. The report surveyed 1,500 Americans in August, and the data was weighted to match age, sex and census region of the U.S. women’s population and Infinite Dial 2022 podcast listening statistics, Edison’s frequent survey of digital media consumer behavior in America. “There’s a lot of misconception,” said SXM Media vp of sales research and analytics Melissa Paris, adding that there are nearly just as many women podcast creators as there are men. “When we look at top shows in the Edison podcast ranker, over half were either hosted or co-hosted by women,” Paris added; female listenership and female podcast creators are growing at the same time. The report also finds that, compared to the U.S. female population, women podcast listeners are more likely to be aged between 18 and 34, more likely to have an income over $100,000 or more, more likely to be moms and more likely to have a college degree. However, the report finds there's still more to promote podcast creation and listenership from women of color. Women are also more likely to listen to a more diverse range of genres. As a genre, comedy leads overall, followed by true crime, love and relationships, entertainment and celebrity, news, and wellness or self-improvement. Spotify’s 2022 ‘Wrapped’ Curates Listeners' Personality Through Their Favorite Tunes Despite the growth of female podcast creators and listeners, male-dominated podcasts still take the lead this year. Spotify’s exclusive podcast with Joe Rogan, host of the Joe Rogan Experience, is the 2022 No. 1 podcast on the platform and on Edison’s ranker. The show averages about 11 million listens to an episode, with 71% of them being male-identifying, according to Media Monitors. This includes the 2 million new subscribers gained in April after the host promoted anti-vaccine conspiracies and used racial language in February, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The No. 2 show on Edison’s ranker is Crime Junkie, hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. The show is also the No. 1 podcast show among women, according to SXM. The podcast has more than 500 million downloads since its start in December 2017. Women are more receptive to ads on female-hosted podcasts From an ads perspective, the research found 41% of respondents are more likely to consider a brand hearing an ad on a podcast with a female host compared to other podcasts, and almost half, 48%, of women listeners would feel more favorable about a brand if they knew it advertised on female-hosted or produced podcasts. Word of mouth is the most popular way for a podcast to gain popularity among women. The study shows 73% of women’s top discovery sources for new podcasts to listen to are friends and family. “There are women that are sharing podcasts because they thought someone else would like the host or would like the topic … there’s really strong numbers for emotional reasons for sharing which we thought was fascinating,” said Paris. According to the report, 55% of respondents feel it's important that podcasts include unfiltered conversations that can’t be heard elsewhere, and 4 in 10 say it’s important that podcasts discuss taboo or controversial topics. This is SXM and Edison's first report on female listenership and is the same team behind the Black Podcast Listeners Report from last year, according to Paris. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that 48% of women listen to podcasts monthly, when actually, 48% of U.S. monthly podcast listeners are women, per Edison Research and SXM Media.