Podcast audience 2026: what Infinite Dial says
Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026 puts monthly podcast reach at 58% of Americans 12+. Here is what the numbers mean for anyone launching a show this year.
Podcasting is not slowing down. Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026, fielded in January 2026 among 2,050 Americans aged 12 and older, puts monthly podcast reach at 58%, a record. If you were waiting for a sign that the audience is there, this is it.
How many people listen to podcasts in 2026?
Edison reports three layers of reach among Americans 12+:
- Ever listened or watched: 80% (about 230 million people), an all-time high.
- Monthly: 58%, also a record.
- Weekly: 45%.
The wider online audio number is just as striking. 81% of Americans 12+ (233 million) used online audio in the last month, and 76% (219 million) in the last week.
Who is driving the growth?
Older listeners. Monthly online audio use among people 55 and over rose from 52% in 2024 to 70% in 2026. That is a big jump in two years, and it breaks the habit of assuming audio is a young person's medium.
It also means the "who is my audience" question deserves a fresh look. A B2B show aimed at managers or a niche show for hobbyists may reach people you wrongly wrote off as offline.
Audio or video: does format matter now?
The Infinite Dial question set counts people who "listened to or watched" a podcast, and that wording is the point. Podcasts are now consumed in both audio and video, and the video side is part of how people discover shows. We would not treat video as mandatory. We would treat it as a cheap test: record your next episodes with a camera on, cut one short clip per episode, and see whether it brings anyone new.
What should a founder do with this?
Three practical moves, none of them expensive:
- Pick one narrow promise. A show about "startups" competes with everyone. A show about "pricing a B2B SaaS under $50 a month" does not.
- Write the episode page like an article. A title, a summary and a few timestamps give search engines and readers something to chew on. Our guide to launching your own show walks through that setup.
- Plan the sponsorship ask early. If listeners are growing, ad slots are worth selling. Woodander Market lists placements you can compare or offer.
Browse more shows and tools in the Audio, Music & Podcasting hub.
One caveat: these are US numbers from a survey, not downloads of any one show. Use them to judge the size of the pond, not your own catch.
