The coronavirus outbreak seems to be having a real effect on podcast listening habits around the world. That’s according to new data from Voxnest.
Turning to Spirituality and Religion Podcasts
In Italy, one of the worst-hit countries, listening increased by 10 percent and then stabilized from the start of March. The U.S. so far has been pretty stable, while listening in Europe as a whole has increased on the whole. What is really interesting is the types of podcasts people are listening to. In Italy, listens in the Spirituality & Religion category have rocketed, up 15 times the normal amount of listens. Both Self-Improvement and Marketing have received five times the normal amount of listens, and there’s been a three-fold increase in the Kids category too.
The variation in the U.S. is less pronounced so far. Listens to ‘Books’ podcasts have increased two-and-half times over, whilst Spirituality & Religion is also getting 1.5 times the usual amount of listens. Current affairs, unsurprisingly, also remains a very popular category.