How is the listening audience structured in Italy? According to 2020 survey data, podcasts were listened to more in the North-East of the country and by people aged between 18 and 34 years old. Among male adults, 43 percent stated they listened to podcasts over the previous twelve months, while female listeners did not go over 39 percent. Excluding music programs, news was the second most popular podcast category, followed by entertainment shows. Female listeners reported a significant interest for health and lifestyle podcasts (32 percent), while the business genre appealed to about one fourth of young listeners. In 2020, the music on demand player Spotify was also the main platform for podcasts, dwarfing Audible in the ranking of most used services in Italy. Only one out of five users seemed to use the podcast platform offered by Apple.
The future of podcast consumption depends on several factors pointed out, interestingly, by non-podcast listeners: the easiness of use and the access to known platforms will be even more relevant than the competition from other visual media.
